MSRB rules

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is requesting comment on requiring more written disclosure from solicitor municipal advisors, which make up just 19% of all MA firms.

In two municipal bond transactions, Aegis Capital Corp. sold to its customers at prices that were 40% higher than the market rate.

Among over 1,200 dealers registered with the MSRB, 21 firms are bank dealers who would be impacted by the change.

The charges against Ricky Mantei stem from allegations of prearranged trading in violation of his firm's established procedures.

Dealer groups say changes to FINRA rules should be cohesive with municipal rules.

Much of the material being retired dates back more than 35 years.

Dealers say increased focus on systemic pennying has decreased its activity, while others aren't so sure.

The reduction would be the largest the MSRB has done, substantially more than a previous one which caused a loss of $5.2 million.

This will be MSRB’s first board meeting of the calendar year.

Dealers said the pandemic has highlighted the challenges of outdated rules and the need to modernize them.

The MSRB is planning to overhaul existing rules in 2021, while stakeholders will lobby the SEC for and against reviving a registration exemption for muni advisors.

Transamerica Financial Advisors has agreed to pay $321,167 in restitution as part of a settlement of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that it failed to properly supervise its brokers selling shares of 529 plans.

FINRA announced the settlement this week, in which RBC agreed to a censure while neither admitting nor denying FINRA’s findings that it violated Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-27 on supervision. RBC was not fined.

This is the first time in four years the self-regulatory agency is asking for input on its strategic goals.

The broker did not disclose conflicts of interest and altered documents, FINRA found.

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board CEO Mark Kim talks about his priorities after recently being named CEO in October, changes to its reduced board size and transparency of the board. Sarah Wynn hosts. (34 minutes)

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board consolidated a few positions, eliminating its chief compliance officer role and promoting its CFO.

Dealerweb is a wholesale unit of Tradeweb Markets, a large fixed-income electronic trading platform company. FINRA found that Dealerweb failed to correctly report 147,000 trades.

The MSRB is looking specifically for issuers and non-dealer municipal advisors.

The board, at the first quarterly board meeting of its 2021 fiscal year, also voted to split its existing Nominating and Governance Committee into two.