Law and regulation

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Monday that it has hired David H. Saltiel as chief economist and is also recruiting someone else to lead to a market structure department that it is creating.

A Republican congressman is pushing the Securities and Exchange Commission to limit the scope of its disclosure violations self-reporting program to the last two years, warning that if it does not he and other lawmakers may seek a legislative solution.

Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen promised a Senator that she would look into concerns that banking regulators' proposed liquidity rules would hurt the municipal market.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will meet next Wednesday to consider money market fund rules.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to simplify and harmonize its rules on professional designations has drawn applause from a dealers group.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will re-propose its draft Rule G-42 on the duties of non-solicitor advisors, the MSRB confirmed Tuesday.

Dealers pay less for munis than customers, particularly when there is more time between trades, according to a long-awaited study commissioned by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. But market sources say the finding is not surprising and that the report is limited in its results.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has permanently barred a former employee of a broker-dealer and investment advisory firm from the financial markets and ordered him to pay more than $200,000 of restitution to a customer he swindled.

Utah Treasurer Richard Ellis is making a push to educate his state's issuers about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative, which many public officials remain uninformed about.

Bond lawyers and issuers are frustrated that the Securities and Exchange Commission did not specify the disclosure failures that led to its settlement with a California school district on Tuesday. They said it leaves them with no helpful guidance on what kinds of disclosures the SEC is focusing on in its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation voluntary enforcement initiative.

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled its first case under its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative after charging a school district in California with misleading bond investors about its past compliance with its continuing disclosure obligations.

The Government Finance Officers Association has issued an alert for issuer officials urging them to approach the Securities and Exchange Commission's continuing disclosure self-reporting program cautiously, and advising the group's members that attempts to lobby the SEC for changes to the initiative have been largely unsuccessful.

The Bond Dealers of America have released a paper prepared by Nixon Peabody LLP that aims to explain to issuers how their relationships with the brokers that handle their investments will change now that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s municipal advisor registration rule is in effect.

The Bond Dealers of America is making another push for changes to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative after the SEC rejected BDA's earlier requests to narrow the scope of the program and extend its deadline.

As many state and local governments across the country begin their July 1 fiscal year, a new federal law going into effect is of particular interest to municipal governments that issue bonds.

Dozens of firms have withdrawn their registrations as municipal advisors under the new regulatory regime that takes full effect Tuesday, citing a myriad of reasons for avoiding participation in a new era of muni advising.

Some broker-dealers and some issuers have distorted the truth about the municipal advisor rule, said a former Securities and Exchange Commission lawyer who worked on the new regulatory regime.

The SEC's latest action continues to illustrate the commission's intent to vigorously enforce the muni bond space, securities lawyers said, and might also illustrate why issuers might hesitate to participate in its controversial self-reporting program.

Panelists at The Bond Buyer's Pacific Northwest Municipal Market Symposium in Seattle discussed the implications of two regulatory initiatives taking place this year, the SEC's MCDC self-reporting initiative, and municipal advisor regulation.

Public officials responsible for the investment of municipal funds will have to keep track of bond proceeds when the muni advisor rule takes effect in less than two weeks, even if compliance is ultimately not their problem, according to experts participating in a California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission webinar Monday.