The Securities and Exchange Commission and three defendants allegedly involved in a pay-to-play scheme to steer billions of dollars of business from a New York pension fund to certain firms have agreed to ask a federal court to stay the civil case resulting from the charges while two criminal cases moves forward.

The Securities Exchange Commission’s regulatory and enforcement workload may be slowed or stalled now that it is down to only two commissioners, one Democrat and one Republican, said observers.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s former director of enforcement Andrew Ceresney will rejoin Debevoise & Plimpton in early March after stepping down from his federal role at the beginning of the year, the firm announced in a statement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking a federal court judge to deny former Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux’s motion to vacate a verdict that found him guilty of securities fraud, saying the former official’s arguments are meritless and do not meet the high burden required for such action.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges and obtained an emergency asset freeze against a South Carolina businessman who allegedly siphoned funds raised from municipal bond investors that were meant to purchase or renovate senior housing facilities.

The Internal Revenue Service has published a new revenue procedure updating management contract safe harbors to address certain types of compensation, the timing of the payment of compensation, the treatment of land, and the methods of approval of rates.

Dougherty & Co. and its former employee Jeffrey Hill have agreed to $140,000 and $5,000 fines, respectively, to separately settle with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over charges that Hill recommended and initiated numerous unsuitable trades for two elderly customers.

Ten investment advisory firms have agreed to pay penalties totaling $660,456 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that they violated the SEC's investment advisor pay-to-play rule.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered UBS to hand over $18.2 million for misleading a family of investors in Puerto Rico closed-ended funds, the second highest fine for individual investors against UBS in these cases.

The Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Office awarded more than $61 million to whistleblowers in fiscal 2016, the agency said Thursday.

Public pension and municipal advisors are among the examination priorities for the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2017, the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations announced Thursday.

Municipal market participants see a slowing of Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service guidance and rules in 2017, but plan to closely watch for tweaks to management contract guidance, final requirements for public approval of private activity bonds and political subdivision rules.

Following the Bridgegate scandal, there's been another political collision in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's world.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has agreed to admit wrongdoing and pay a $400,000 penalty to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to disclose risks associated with New Jersey road projects to the investors that bought the bonds to finance them.

The Campaign Legal Center is trying to convince a federal court overseeing a challenge brought by Republican groups that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s rule changes to prevent municipal advisors from engaging in pay-to-play practices are legal and needed to address the potential for corruption in the municipal market.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's enforcement priorities for 2017 will include ensuring municipal advisors are properly registered with regulators, checking broker-dealers' compliance with best execution requirements, and monitoring firms' efforts to avoid unsuitable recommendations of securities.

Former Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux is asking a federal judge for a new trial over Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he committed securities fraud because he believes the previous trial was unfairly prejudiced against him.

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of New York lawyer Jay Clayton to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission represents a balanced choice for the agency in line with Trump’s focus on deregulation but municipal participants will likely have to wait to find out what impact he may have on the muni market, individuals and groups said.

The Rhode Island Commerce Corp. and Securities and Exchange Commission are close to reaching a final settlement over fraud charges the SEC brought in connection with a private placement involving the video game company 38 Studios.

While most muni market participants agree that 2017 could be the year of comprehensive tax reform, they have mixed views on whether the muni exemption is safe under the tax proposals of President-Elect Donald Trump and House Republicans.