Law and regulation

Former Miami, Fla. budget director Michael Boudreaux is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appeals court decided not to reconsider its decision to disqualify his immunity from a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit.

Credit rating agencies have made strides in implementing mandatory reforms, the SEC said in recent reports that found the raters also need to improve in several areas, including the way they handle conflicts of interest.

State and local governments are the underdogs in influence peddling in Congress mostly because they spend little to nothing on lobbyists, in contrast to the millions of dollars spent by the big securities, banking and investment groups.

Muni bond issuers in Texas posted updated disclosures to correct previous omissions under the Securities and Exchange Commission's MCDC initiative.

Some non-dealer municipal advisors wrongly believe providing advice to an issuer in their capacity as a municipal advisors means they can also act as an intermediary between the issuer and investors.

Municipal bond groups are seeking federal appeals court guidance in a ratepayer appeal of part of Jefferson County, Ala.'s Chapter 9 bankruptcy plan, saying the district court decision allowing a challenge of the plan threatens to undermine market stability.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named former Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board general counsel Gary Goldsholle as a deputy director in its Division of Trading and Markets.

The National Association of Municipal Advisors is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to create exemptions from broker-dealer and investment adviser registration for MA firms engaged in activities understood to be normal municipal advisory services.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined two firms a total of $7,500 for violations of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules, FINRA said in its monthly disciplinary report Monday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has received many comments on its rule 15c2-12, but is able to respond on only a limited basis because the request for comment is limited in scope, members of the commission's muni office told issuers Thursday.

Offering document misstatements related to continuing disclosure violations has been widespread and upcoming enforcement actions will provide guidance on the Securities and Exchange Commission's views, the SEC's muni enforcement chief told issuers Thursday.

Dealers said the MSRB's proposal to extend gifts and gratuities regulation to municipal advisors should be reworked to establish uniform recordkeeping requirements for both dealer and non-dealer firms, while a major non-dealer firm said the proposal should be an opportunity to fix a gap in the existing rule.

State budgets are expected to show moderate growth and stability in fiscal 2015, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers' fall fiscal survey of states.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to require muni dealers to seek the most favorable price possible when executing transactions for most investors.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is seeking a legislative fix to the municipal advisor rule so that it is less burdensome for bank and broker-dealer firms, executives of a broker-dealer group said Thursday.

With the government contemplating changes to the tax exempt status of municipal bonds and investors faced with dubiously researched claims about the potential for defaults, the industry needs someone to step into the late Jim Lebenthal's role, his daughter writes.

Total tax-exempt and taxable municipal bond issuance in 2015 is expected to edge up to $357.5 billion, an increase of more than 2.7% from the $348.1 billion forecast for this year, according to respondents of an industry survey.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher wants more action on pension accounting and more staff devoted to the municipal market.

Many issuers were expected to spend Monday scrambling to finish their submissions to meet a Dec. 1 deadline for the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to begin collecting and publicly disseminating certain disclosures related to municipal asset-backed securities, such as in the housing market, on its EMMA site in January.