Securities law

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board wants to prepare broker-dealers for a forthcoming seismic regulatory change.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's spending would be beefed up and its focus on retail investors and self-regulators in the municipal market would be increased under the fiscal 2019 budget request made public Monday.

The Bond Dealers of America is proposing a multi-faceted "business plan" that would give dealers more time to comply with a rule requiring them to disclose their markups and markdowns to retail customers.

MA and broker-dealer compliance with relatively new rules, as well as the MSRB and FINRA, will be in the spotlight.

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe will establish its second-largest public finance team in Houston with more than two dozen hires from Andrews Kurth Kenyon.

All but one of the remaining defendants in the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Ramapo, N.Y., have agreed to settlement terms, according to court documents.

The sanctions involved eight transactions of Alaska bonds issued in 2015 and FINRA found the firm had inadequate supervisory procedures.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's decisions at last week's board meeting reveal that it feels a sense of urgency as the clock ticks down toward the effective date of its landmark markup disclosure rule.

SIFMA is urging the MSRB to be more forthcoming in providing interpretive guidance to dealers and other regulated entities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board issued a report saying its oversight of the muni market without enforcement power is among the advantages it offers as a self-regulator.