MSRB rules

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's 2019 Report on Examination Findings, released Wednesday, discussed violations FINRA personnel discovered.

The firm attached a corrective action statement detailing changes to its personnel, compliance department and municipal trading desk.

MSRB Chief Education Officer Ritta McLaughlin will be the fifth senior official to leave the MSRB in the last couple of months.

Though many participants were pleased with changes the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has proposed for its fair dealing guidance, some worried about new compliance expectations.

Administrative failures or a lack of understanding of the rule may be to blame.

Municipal advisors can begin taking their principal exams in November.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking comment on exemptive relief for municipal advisors in some activities in private placement deals, eliciting fierce resistance from broker-dealer groups.

Issuers look for more options in their private placement deals amid conversation on broker dealers’ and municipal advisors’ roles.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority previously sanctioned UBS in 2015 for similar violations.

At the SEC's invitation, Bond Dealers of America submitted a proposed framework for an exemptive order aimed at muni advisors on private placement deals.

New MSRB Chair Edward Sisk will start in his new role on Oct. 1.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is reviewing its size and the composition of its board, and projects an operating deficit for the coming year.

The New York-based firm mismarked 90% of its municipal securities trades, FINRA found.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board doubled professional fees for municipal advisors last week.

The MSRB announced Monday that Post will be a “senior advisor” through the end of the month, when the board’s fiscal year ends.

“A highly sophisticated frequent issuer may not need the same disclosures as a less sophisticated infrequent issuer,” the trade association for underwriters told the SEC.

The group sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission this week asking for fair dealing rule guidance to be better tailored to 529 savings plans.

Muni professionals’ knee-jerk response is that the phrase is clear, until they attempt to explain it. And then they realize that it is nonsensical.

The MSRB wants to work with other regulatory groups to decrease confusion surrounding suitability rules in conjunction with the SEC's new Regulation Best Interest.

Issuers and non-dealer muni advisors support the existing prohibition, while dealers asked the MSRB to provide some flexibility.