Law and regulation

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts is preparing to push home its pro-disclosure message this year with a series of new educational papers and efforts to be even more collaborative, new NFMA board chair Jennifer Johnston said.

The Kentucky Legislature is considering a bill that would create a state-run retirement plan for private-sector workers. SIFMA opposes the measure.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's disclosure violation self-reporting program has highlighted that issuers and underwriters should take steps to strengthen their disclosure and due diligence procedures to protect themselves from SEC enforcement action, bond lawyers said Thursday.

The Republican parties of New York State and Tennessee will square off against the Securities and Exchange Commission in oral arguments in a federal court March 23 over rules restricting finance professionals from giving money to political candidates.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's requested fiscal year 2016 budget of $1.722 billion would allow the commission to hire hundreds of examination staff and step up enforcement, as well as help the muni office coordinate with self-regulators.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is preparing to submit a proposal limiting the gifts municipal advisors can give to state and local employees as well as a study guide for its MA qualifications exam to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Jennifer Johnston, vice president and research analyst in the municipal bond department of Franklin Templeton Investments is the new chair of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts, the NFMA announced Monday.

All individuals engaging in municipal advisory activities should be required to take a new qualifications test, and regulators should consider developing more specialized and supplemental exams at a later time, the National Association of Municipal Advisors told the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is sounding another call for transparency of undisclosed debt such as bank loans, warning that failure to improve disclosure practices could impair market pricing or even threaten the rights of bondholders.

Two former Allen Park, Mich. officials have settled a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against them by agreeing to be barred from involvement in any future municipal bond offerings, and ex-Mayor Gary Burtka agreed to pay a $10,000 civil penalty, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

State and local governments of all sizes are using direct bank loans as an alternative to traditional bond financing, Standard & Poor's said Wednesday, renewing its call for more transparency surrounding bank debt.

The Federal Reserve Board’s decision to delay certain aspects of the Volcker Rule are a plus for the municipal market, a major rating agency and a dealer group said.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a favorable but limited private-letter ruling concluding a total return swap entered into between a borrower and a bank at the same time the underlying tax-exempt bonds were sold is “not an abusive arbitrage device,” tax lawyers said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's rule 15c2-12 governing continuing disclosure of issuer financial information is outdated and could be streamlined to reduce the regulatory burden for issuers and underwriters, bond lawyers and underwriters told the SEC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will discuss municipal advisor qualification examinations, as well as comments on proposals restricting MA gift giving and requiring dealers to disclose reference prices on confirmation sheets at its quarterly meeting in Alexandria, Va., next week.

Dealers want the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to withdraw a proposed rule that would require dealers acting as principals to disclose to customers on their confirmations a "reference price" of the same security traded that same day, urging enhancements to existing transparency systems as an alternative.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a review of the disclosure requirements in the SEC's Rule 15c2-12, and to consider requiring disclosure of non-bond debt such as bank loans.

The Government Finance Officers Association is levelling strong criticism at Moody's Investors Service for failing to provide its credit ratings to EMMA and urging the agency to do so.

Syncora Investment Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Syncora Guarantee, Inc., has purchased a majority stake in the independent derivatives advisory firm, Swap Financial Group.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined and censured New York-based Gates Capital Corporation $25,000 for failing to report variable rate demand obligation interest rate resets on time.