Washington

House Republican leaders plan to hold a policy meeting Friday morning with their members on pending legislation for Puerto Rico to try to gain more support for it.

In parallel actions on Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. district attorney for the Southern District of New York filed civil and criminal charges against Ramapo, N.Y., officials for misleading investors in connection with bonds issued to finance a minor league baseball stadium.

The House Committee on Natural Resources is moving forward with a bill to help Puerto Rico that loosens provisions regarding the oversight board but still keeps the cram down and debt litigation moratorium portions of an earlier version that drew criticism.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission to update and modernize its municipal securities disclosure rule as well as develop a parallel rule that gives municipal advisors continuing disclosure responsibilities.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White cited a voluntary municipal continuing disclosure enforcement program for dealer and issuers as one of the commission’s successful efforts at deter securities law violations and change market behavior.

The Securities Exchange Commission has charged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton with securities fraud in a case involving a Texas-based technology company. Paxton was already under indictment in Texas for acting as an unregistered financial advisor.

The Conroe Industrial Development Corporation in Texas has paid a penalty and agreed to redeem bonds under the Internal Revenue Service’s voluntary closing agreement program (VCAP) to settle a tax violation relating to bonds it issued in 2008 and refunded in 2012.

The Associated Press and Municipal Bond Information Services, a national consortium of municipal interdealer brokers, announced Monday that it has created a new muni bond index.

Bond Dealers of America is urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to leave unchanged some rules that relate to the municipal securities market’s move to a two- instead of three-day settlement cycle.

Bond trustees are proving to have less power than some investors expect as debt distress has become a more persistent concern for municipal bond investors.