Law and regulation

Lawyers, issuer officials, and others consulted about the fund agreed that the three firms did nothing against the rules when they gave the money to the fund, which is governed by a board independent of the city leadership and which does nothing to politically support Garcetti or any other political interest.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher is calling for Congress to mandate that municipal issuers use Government Accounting Standards Board benchmarks, possibly as a condition for the bonds to be tax-exempt.

Many bond lawyers feel that with all municipal rating agencies soon to be beaming live ratings to EMMA, the Securities and Exchange Commission should amend its rules so that issuers no longer have to worry about filing notices of upgrades and downgrades.

The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it will indefinitely suspend sales of state and local government securities beginning at noon on March 13 because of the federal debt limit.

Bond Dealers of America has tapped Steve Genyk, a managing director and the head of fixed income capital markets at Janney Montgomery Scott, as the new chairman of its board for fiscal 2015, which started March 1.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division is contacting dealers who reported their own possible violations of securities laws under a voluntary enforcement program initiated last year, giving them two weeks to decide if they still want to take advantage of the lenient settlement terms.

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has promoted its deputy general counsel Lawrence Sandor to the newly created position of chief compliance officer.

Municipal issuers’ disclosures of financial and operating data have increased dramatically, while disclosures of bank loans have been disappointing, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board executive director Lynnette Kelly said at a conference.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has released a paper on best practices in disclosure for bank loans, an opaque segment of the municipal debt market that is getting increased attention from regulators.

Hospital credits could be hurt if the Supreme Court strikes down federal health insurance subsidies established by the Affordable Care Act, Moody's Investors Service said Tuesday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is likely to propose requiring alternative trading systems to report quotation information on municipal securities to it in the future, industry officials said after listening to speakers on a federal regulatory update panel at a conference here on Monday afternoon.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's best execution rule may create liquidity problems for certain areas of the market and will pose compliance challenges for everyone, industry officials said Monday.

Moody's Investors Service ratings will be available on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA website later this year, ending the rating agency's long holdout from the site.

Circumstances have changed and a different approach to Puerto Rico debt is warranted.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to create baseline standards of professional qualification for municipal advisors.

New York City public advocate Letitia James has filed a friend of the court brief in support of the Securities and Exchange Commission's pay-to-play restriction on investment advisers, which is under attack in a lawsuit filed by two state Republican parties last year.

Legislation that would allow government-owned corporations in Puerto Rico to reorganize through Chapter 9 may face an uphill battle after drawing a lukewarm reception from Republicans on a House panel Thursday.

The Federal Reserve is working to identify municipal securities that could be treated as high-quality liquid assets under rules requiring banks to maintain liquidity coverage ratios, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen told members of a House committee.

Par volume traded for municipal securities was $2.77 trillion in 2014, the lowest volume in over a decade, according to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board fact book released Wednesday.

Conduit issuers and dealers face challenges under the eight month–old municipal advisor registration rule, though most market participants say the new regime is running fairly smoothly.