Law and regulation

Dealers want the de minimis contribution limit increased in the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed application of its Rule G-37 on political contributions to municipal advisors, and one lawyer told the board the rule is probably unconstitutional unless it is raised.

Three municipal securities regulators plan to hold the first Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors in Chicago on Nov. 3 and are asking folks to register for it.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Michael Piwowar said Tuesday that it isn't clear if implementing a uniform fiduciary standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers providing personalized investment advice about securities would benefit retail investors.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency's public finance ratings are now available on Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's disclosure website EMMA, adding to the existing information from Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings.

Dealer groups are making a final push for changes to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed best execution rule, telling the Securities and Exchange Commission that it should hold off on any changes to how firms interact with sophisticated municipal market professionals until the MSRB can solicit comments on that topic directly.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board could accomplish many of its transparency goals more cheaply by providing more information itself than by requiring dealers to provide it, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told the MSRB Friday.

The bank liquidity rule is more likely to drive up the costs of investments than infrastructure development for state and local governments, according to a Wells Fargo Securities research report.

The Government Finance Officers Association has adopted best practices to help issuers hire brokers to invest their bond proceeds under the municipal advisor rule, and to improve the valuation of pension plans.

Issuers battling dealer firms over the right to seek arbitration to settle disputes over auction rate securities are planning to take their case to the Supreme Court now that a federal appeals court has ruled against them.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Barclays Capital Inc. with failing to maintain an adequate internal compliance system after it acquired the advisory business of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Crystal City, Texas has reached an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to settle tax rule violations and preserve the tax-exempt status of interest already paid on $13.94 million of jail bonds issued by an authority in 2003 and now in default.

Future Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative settlements may offer more detail on the Securities and Exchange Commission's priorities and the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities may offer more municipal advisor rule guidance, commission officials said Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will probably use emergency court action to stop state and local governments from selling municipal bonds if it thinks their offerings are fraudulent, an enforcement division official told bond lawyers meeting here.

National Association of Bond Lawyers members elected the groups' officers for 2014-2015 on Wednesday during NABL's annual meeting.

Bankruptcies in Jefferson County and Detroit as well as regulatory and enforcement actions have garnered increased scrutiny of the bond market in Washington, and market participants need to better understand the policy-making process, a Treasury Department official said.

William Beatty, Washington State's director of securities, became president of the North American Securities Administrators Association on Tuesday.

A federal appeals court recently agreed with a lower court that former Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux does not have immunity from Securities and Exchange Commission charges, a decision some experts think could have implications for the SEC's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative or other enforcement actions going forward.

A federal banking rule that doesn't classify municipal bonds as high-quality liquid assets needs to be reworked to ensure it won't impede critical infrastructure development, Sen. Chuck Schumer told regulators on Tuesday.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has many ongoing projects, including completing an analysis of the long-term implications of a self-reporting disclosure enforcement program, commenting on the SEC's 2012 municipal market report, and providing regulators with its views on tax issues, said its incoming president Antonio "Tony" Martini.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined two firms a total of $31,000 dollars for violations of municipal securities rules, FINRA disclosed in the September monthly disciplinary actions it released Monday.