Law and regulation

"Detroit's a much better credit than it was two years ago," its former emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, told a municipal bond market group.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans later this year to propose changes to Rules G-37, on political contributions, and G-20, on gifts and gratuities, to extend these dealer rules to municipal advisors, the executive director said on Tuesday.

Proposed rule changes by the Federal Reserve are so restrictive that they would either substantially reduce or exclude municipal securities from being considered high-quality liquid assets in liquidity coverage ratios banks have to meet and, as a result, would hurt the municipal market, dealer groups and issuers are warning.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill Thursday that would provide $1.5 billion of funding for the Securities and Exchange Commission in fiscal year 2016, the same amount as the fiscal 2015 enacted level and $222 million less than the commission requested earlier this year.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board revised its three online information facilities to add references to the self-regulator's core operational hours and highlight the 24/7 availability of a number of the systems' functions.

A coalition of state and city finance officials led by Rhode Island Treasurer Seth Magaziner wants the SEC to require greater transparency from PE firms that manage public pension funds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, at its meeting next week, plans to discuss draft guidance on its best execution rule, its proposal to require dealers to provide pricing information to customers, and the reaction to its bid to ease standards for the public investor representative on its board.

The Government Finance Officers Association took issue with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed easing of standards for one public board position, saying the changes could affect the balance of power and lead to candidates who do not represent the best interests of investors.

Micah Green, a former president of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, and six others have moved to Steptoe & Johnson LLP’s financial services practice here from Squire Patton Boggs.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing to create a trade data product that would allow higher education researchers to see what dealers are doing while keeping the dealer identities anonymous.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined three firms a total of $57,500 for municipal bond trade reporting violations. The self-regulator also suspended a former broker-dealer cashier for six months for fictitious trades.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposal to ease the independence standard for its public investor slot is “deeply flawed” and “would undermine the very purpose” of Dodd-Frank Act provisions, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advocate.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is expected to release an investor alert Monday to educate bondholders on liquidity issues that can arise during times of market stress.

Two senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that would give the Securities and Exchange Commission the ability to levy higher civil monetary penalties against firms and individuals for securities law violations.

The House Judiciary Committee is unlikely to pass legislation that would give Puerto Rican public municipalities and utilities the ability to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9, committee chair Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a Wednesday statement.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is giving 529 college savings plan underwriters a 60-day extension on the first date data submissions are due under a recently adopted rule.

The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of ex-Miami, Fla. budget director Michael Boudreaux, sending the former official and the city back to court to fight a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit in a move some lawyers fear could hurt municipal officials' abilities to do their jobs.

As the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board continues to gather information on bond ballot contributions and weigh its regulations on the topic, concerns about possible pay-to-play issues from the contributions are already finding their way into the public eye.

The Securities and Exchange Commission tried to refute criticisms of its controversial disclosure violations self-reporting program while providing some hints about its attitudes toward what violations are important to investors, lawyers said Monday.

The Government Finance Officers Association is calling for changes in the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's core conduct rule for municipal advisors to reduce the costs and burdens for issuers.