Washington

U.S. banks' holdings of municipal bonds increased to $507.5 billion in the first quarter of 2016, a 1.7% gain from the $499 billion of holdings in the fourth quarter of 2015.

The full Senate is expected to take up the Puerto Rico bill passed by the House and vote on it before the end of the month or in early July.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend its Rule 15c2-12 on municipal bond disclosure and provide more guidance in this area.

The Government Finance Officers Association has released a five-page primer on municipal advisor rules that should be entitled, “Everything you need to know about these rules and how they affect issuers.”

Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Tex., plans to introduce an alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act that would, among other things, stop the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board from receiving some of the muni rule enforcement fines collected by regulators and repeal the Volcker Rule.

Lawyers with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe are concerned about a ruling by a federal appeals court last week that found a constitutional challenge to the Securities and Exchange Commission's use of administrative proceedings to impose penalties in enforcement cases could not move forward until the proceedings end.

States like Colorado will continue to forego revenue, as well as the opportunity to borrow against that revenue in the bond market, until the cannabis industry gains access to the banking system.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Miami have each asked a federal judge in Florida to rule in their favor before a trial can be held over the SEC’s fraud charges against the city and a former city official.

Municipal advisor professionals who have not already passed the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s pilot qualification exam will have one year from Sept. 12 to pass the permanent exam, the self-regulator announced on Tuesday.

Muni market groups are resoundingly saying "no" to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's question of whether it should require municipal advisors to disclose information about their issuer clients' bank loans or privately placed municipal securities.