Law and regulation

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is revising its proposed rule governing the duties of municipal advisors in response to market comments, and will also propose amending its pay-to-play rule to cover MAs, the MSRB announced Tuesday.

Municipalities struggling with fiscal distress need to be especially mindful of fulfilling their continuing disclosure obligations, regulators and analysts said Friday.

National Association of Local Finance Housing Agencies has re-elected Ernestine Garey, from Invest Atlanta as its president, plus other officers and directors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will release new rules for the reform of money market mutual funds "in the near term," although it has not decided whether they should would apply to municipal funds, SEC chairman Mary Jo White told a House panel Tuesday.

The impact of technology on the financial markets was discussed at a Milken Global Conference panel on changes wrought by regulations passed in the wake of the financial meltdown of 2008.

Non-dealer municipal advisors are concerned that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed rule on MA supervisory requirements could be costly to the market without greatly benefiting the issuers it is designed to protect.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's new program allowing issuers and underwriters to "self-report" disclosure failures could be a game changer, according to some market participants.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will discuss plans to rebuild the MSRB's real-time reporting system, as well as comments it has received on its proposed municipal advisor conduct rule and best execution rule when the board meets in Alexandria, Va. next week.

Many smaller issuers remain uninformed about what the impending municipal advisor regulatory regime will mean for them, with broker-dealers picking up the slack and providing them with information, according to market participants.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed a new rule with the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement an annual fee of $300 for each municipal advisor professional that is to be paid by registered municipal advisors.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms and an individual for municipal rule violations, including for a precedent-setting case of improperly seeking reimbursement from issuers for excessive expenses on bond rating trips.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore. was elected to chair the Joint Committee on Taxation for the remainder of the 113th Congress.

Citi is urging bank regulators to treat most municipal securities as high quality liquid assets in a banking rule proposed to ensure banks are equipped to handle severe financial and economic stress.

Tender option bond market participants have two options available to keep those programs viable under the Volcker Rule, though neither is without risk or likely to please everybody with an interest in TOBs.

Rep. Dave Camp's draft tax reform plan, which is advertised as revenue-neutral, would actually substantially reduce revenues and increase the budget deficit after 10 years, the former counsel of a tax-writing committee said at hearing on Tuesday.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has released model documents designed to help its members comply with the municipal advisor registration rule, which takes effect on July 1.

Twenty-two U.S. senators are urging Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Jo White to make sure municipal money market funds are exempted from proposed reforms, warning they will hurt state and local governments.

Three convicted bid-riggers filed documents with a federal appeals court this week arguing that their convictions should be overturned because of several errors by the lower court.

Two lawyers in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities have been promoted, the SEC announced Wednesday.

Small financial advisory firms face the most challenges adapting to the new rules and regulations governing municipal advisors, with some predicting that many of the smallest MAs will go out of business.