Law and regulation

Municipal securities dealers are worried that their participation in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative could cause them problems with multiple regulators, and have asked the SEC for reassurance that their businesses will not be impeded because they chose to report under the MCDC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing to ease the standard of independence for one of its public board member positions.

A federal appeals court denied the appeals of a trio of convicted bid-riggers Thursday in a ruling that could have lasting effects for future fraudsters.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities hired two new attorney fellows recently, the chief of that office confirmed this week.

Municipal issuers spent $2,000 to $18,000 to do continuing disclosure reviews under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative and the vast majority of them felt they were forced to do them, the Government Finance Officers Association said during a spirited panel discussion here Tuesday.

A number of market participants want a sophisticated issuer exemption to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s municipal advisor registration rule, but a leading official in the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities said Monday that the rule is too new for that.

Dealer groups and banks remain highly concerned that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed core municipal advisor rule could limit the services they offer, while non-dealer advisors told the Securities and Exchange Commission that the proposal needs more clarification in several ways.

The Government Finance Officers Association is trying to galvanize public officials to pressure federal banking regulators into more permissive rules classifying municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets under the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) rule adopted last year.

Municipal issuers need to be prepared to fight against Securities and Exchange Commission efforts to directly regulate them, members of the Government Finance Officers Associations' Committee on Governmental Debt Management said Saturday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission should not approve the outline for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's Municipal Advisory Representative Qualification Examination because it takes an inappropriate "one-size-fits-all" approach, the Investment Company Institute told the commission in a comment letter.

Sixteen municipal market groups are urging House members to co-sponsor a bill that would treat all investment grade and actively traded municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets under a bank liquidity rule.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposal to collect additional post-trade data for EMMA, the MSRB announced late Tuesday.

Municipal issuers and dealers hope that the Federal Reserve's proposal to include uninsured investment-grade general obligation bonds as high-quality liquid assets under the Fed's liquidity coverage ratio requirement rule spurs other banking regulators to do the same.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has proposed a rule that would amend the Fed’s liquidity coverage ratio requirement (LCR) to include some uninsured investment-grade general obligation municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets (HQLA), a move market participant have said matters little unless other regulators follow suit.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday charged an Atlanta-based investment advisory firm and two executives with fraud for allegedly selling investments to pension funds for the city's police and firefighters, transit workers, and other employees that were illegal under state law.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Jessica Kane will be the new director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities and that Rebecca Olsen will be deputy director.

Municipal market trading volume fell 13% from the first quarter of last year, according to statistics released by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a dealer firm and fined and suspended an individual for violations of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules, FINRA revealed in its monthly disciplinary report for May.

Federal aid for Puerto Rico and its cash-strapped issuing authorities is not going to happen, former governor Luis Fortuño told municipal analysts Thursday.

Any well-publicized enforcement action over whether bank loans should be treated as securities would certainly provide some guidance on this issue, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board executive director Lynnette Kelly told muni analysts meeting here.