Law and regulation

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to publish interpretive guidance on its best execution rule no later than July, MSRB chair Kym Arnone said Monday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has released a study outline for its 100 question multiple-choice municipal advisor representative qualification exam, which will be the first mandatory competency exam for professionals giving bond-related advice to state and local governments.

Participants in municipal bond transactions need to clearly identify, document and disclose potential conflicts of interest in order to avoid potential negative ramifications, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts concluded in a new white paper.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to require dealers to submit new information through its trade reporting system has some support from the two major industry groups, but one is concerned about possible inefficiency and confusion and the other wants a longer implementation period.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials stand behind their disclosure after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened an informal inquiry into the district’s compliance with legal guidelines in the use of bond proceeds to buy iPad tablets.

A network interruption brought down the financial market’s largest inventory management system Friday morning, stifling municipal bond trading on some platforms and highlighting vulnerability of the market to technological failures.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a New York City-based financial advisor with fraud, saying he stole at least $20 million from customers who were told their money would be invested in municipal bonds when it actually evaporated in riskier trades.

Market participants are concerned and confused about an aspect of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed municipal advisor core conduct rule that some sources are reading as allowing investment banks to provide advisory services on deals they underwrite.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined two firms $55,000 for muni trade rule violations and suspended a former broker, as well as fined him to pay $5,000 in fines and ordered him to disgorge $2,837 of ill-gotten gains plus interest, for making unsuitable municipal securities recommendations to clients.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a proposed rule governing the core conduct of municipal advisors, including their fiduciary duty to put the interests of state and local government clients ahead of their own.

Municipalities are getting themselves into trouble by borrowing to cover operating deficits, Federal Reserve Bank of New York president and chief executive officer William Dudley told attendees at a closed-doors workshop Tuesday.

The Bond Dealers of America is stepping up its educational efforts on regulation and electronic trading as well as trying to increase its connections on Capitol Hill, said new BDA board chairman Steve Genyk.

Two divisions of Morgan Stanley have agreed to be censured and pay $675,000 to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that the dealers misrepresented taxable municipal bond interest paid to customers as tax-exempt.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association announced that it has developed model sophisticated municipal market professional, or SMMP, documentation to allow firms to comply with muni rules when dealing with investors who need less regulatory protection.

The municipal advisory business has exploded over the past 30 years, as economic, regulatory, and technological developments have combined to create a bigger business that is increasingly dominated by firms focused mostly on MA services.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s revised estimates of the burden of complying with its main disclosure rule still inaccurate, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told the commission in a new letter.

A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments May 15 in the case of three convicted bid riggers seeking to have their convictions overturned.

A Republican congressman said Tuesday he is concerned that the Securities and Exchange Commission's approach to municipal market enforcement risks creating an environment where only big players will get a seat at the table.

State revenues from gambling show weakness despite gambling expansion, according to a report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Non-dealer municipal advisors should not be allowed to act as placement agents for an issuance of bonds, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White in a recent letter.