Critics say the Securities and Exchange Commission should dig well beyond its cease-and-desist order in its Harrisburg, Pa., securities fraud case.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday it has charged the City of Harrisburg, Pa., with securities fraud for making misleading public statements when its financial condition was deteriorating.

George Canellos and Andrew Ceresney have been named co-directors of the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division — the first time the SEC will has had two leaders of the group.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the chief executive officer of a Chicago-based advisory firm with lying to the California Public Employers' Retirement System and other clients about the amount of money managed by the firm.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a firm $37,500 for trade and books and records violations, and a broker $5,000, giving him a four-month suspension, for telling a customer he redeemed bonds rather than sold them without the customer's permission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission objects to further delay in the 2009 case against two JPMorgan bankers charged with bribing Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners and broker-dealers to win business.

Three former employees of CDR Financial Products Inc. who cooperated with the government's investigation into municipal bond bid-rigging were given prison terms ranging from six months to 18 months.

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander issued a cease-and-desist order against the former Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. for alleged fraud in its role as underwriter on $39 million of defaulted revenue bonds issued by a Missouri city for a now abandoned artificial sweetener plant.

Four firms agreed to pay $105,000 in fines for violations of pricing, political contribution, supervisory and other rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to set a trial date for two former JPMorgan bankers facing charges related to bankrupt Jefferson County's defaulted sewer deals.

Ohio-based American Municipal Power Inc. has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission tied to the Prairie State coal-fired plant, according to public documents obtained by an environmental group.

Though sequestration prevented two federal regulators from sharing their perspectives, other panelists speaking to bond lawyers in San Francisco predicted more enforcement and whistleblower activity.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is still months away from finalizing its definition of municipal advisor, but is poised to step up muni bond enforcement efforts in general, the head of the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities told bond lawyers meeting here.

The recent settlement by Illinois with the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of shoddy pension disclosure will lead to better disclosure overall and boost the credit of the entire municipal securities market, according to a report Moody's Investors Services released Friday.

Sentencing of David Rubin and his firm, CDR Financial Products Inc., for charges related to bid-rigging of municipal investment contracts, has been postponed by a federal judge until June 28.

A federal judge has postponed sentencing of two former CDR Financial Products Inc., staffers until after the bid-rigging trial against former Bank of America executive Phillip Dennis Murphy, which is slated to start Feb. 3, 2014.

The SEC's whistleblower office is seeking additional details about a complaint that Scranton, Pa., misled in a bond document regarding the nature of a tax hike.

Municipal market participants face the prospect of more enforcement action this year while issuers will be pressured to step up disclosure efforts, industry experts said Tuesday, the final day of the National Municipal Bond Summit.