Washington

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association will be focused on several municipal bond industry initiatives in including disclosure in 2017, the group said at its annual “State of the Industry” briefing in New York on Wednesday.

State and federal judges in Wisconsin approved final settlement agreements with Stifel and Royal Bank of Canada to conclude an eight-year effort by five school districts to recoup $200 million lost on a risky investment product.

Former Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux will face a much lighter penalty for securities fraud than the Securities and Exchange Commission sought, after a federal court judge found that the commission overreached in its requests to have Boudreaux enjoined and fined $450,000.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered UBS to pay two Puerto Rican residents $18.4 million in damages, interest, and other fees over the residents’ investments in closed-end mutual funds concentrated in Puerto Rico bonds.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association wants bank regulators to avoid adopting harsh international capital standards for trading that could have a chilling effect on the municipal market and hurt liquidity.

The MSRB issued interpretive guidance on how its rules apply to accounts that are fully managed by a registered investment advisor that is also a sophisticated municipal market professional.

The SEC, in a court filing on Tuesday, said former Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux's arguments against penalties the SEC wants to impose on him for securities fraud show a lack of responsibility and respect for the jury verdict that found him guilty.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority found that Merrill Lynch failed to properly supervise customers’ investments in Puerto Rico bonds and closed-end funds.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers wants the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service to revise the management contract guidance released in August, which it says is confusing and could limit the usefulness of safe harbors in short-term contacts.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has announced that its dealer markup rule will take effect on May 14, 2018.