Securities law

The MSRB will ask for market feedback on potential interpretive guidance related to a practice the board worries may impair market liquidity.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's decision not to extend the effective date of new markup disclosure requirements is disappointing to dealer groups, which have pushed hard for months for a delay.

A Securities and Exchange Commission proposal that may trigger additional MSRB rulemaking is open for comment, and the MSRB is scheduled to discuss it next week.

Lombard Securities and McDonald Partners agreed to pay fines after FINRA examiners found various violations of MSRB rules, including supervisory failures and trade reporting deficiencies.

Cities deny NAM charge that they committed securities fraud by failing to adequately address climate risk in their muni bond official statements.

Lanny Schwartz brings varied experience to a new role at the MSRB, including with the derivatives that could be poised to make a comeback because of the prohibition on advance refundings.

An unsealed whistleblower lawsuit accuses eight Wall Street and regional banks and broker-dealers that served as remarketing agents of fraud and collusion in resetting rates for variable rate demand obligations issued by state and local issuers in Illinois.

The SEC wants a quick end to its case against former Ramapo, N.Y. town supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, but St. Lawrence's lawyer wants a federal judge to proceed to trial.

Former broker Deborah Kelley could end up paying close to half a million dollars in fines, penalties, and restitution for her role in defrauding the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

The National Association of State Treasurers is using infrastructure finance as an argument to urge lawmakers to pass legislation reclassifying some munis as high-quality liquid assets.

Vendors, dealers, and regulators say that the integration of sometimes subjective markup disclosure rule requirements into existing broker-dealer systems is proving to be a heavy lift for the industry.

A newly-published MSRB document is aimed at helping to reign in what the SEC has described as fairly widespread violations occurring at smaller municipal advisory firms.

Some worry that MSRB's late release of an updated set of FAQs on markup disclosure requirements will hinder their meeting the May 14 effective date.

Analysts have noticed a definite hesitance of issuers to talk to them one-on-one and blame the MSRB's market advisory warning issuers against revealing material information to select investors.

The Securities Exchange Commission and the former town attorney for Oyster Bay, N.Y. have agreed to a proposed settlement of SEC charges.

Groups representing both dealer and non-dealer muni advisors are opposed to the MSRB's new rule and rule changes on advertising because they are too dissimilar from FINRA's rules and could be confusing.

The SEC told a federal court that it will not pursue a judgment against the muni advisor firm or its principal unless it appears that the settlement process has stalled.

As bond lawyers meeting in Phoenix discussed current topics in securities law and enforcement on Thursday, one theme that emerged was the importance of a smart response to SEC inquiries.

Market participants want the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's compliance guidance to be clear and within the scope of its authority.

Third-party vendors are confident their products will help dealers comply with new markup disclosure rules, but need to integrate them to dealers' systems.