Washington

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing two clarifying exceptions to its rule preventing dealers from buying or selling bonds below their stated minimum denominations

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to weigh complaints it recently received on a proposal for determining markups, as well as comments on close-out procedures for dealers, during its meeting next week.

Most municipal bond analysts believe Chapter 9 bankruptcy is taboo for municipalities and should be avoided, according to an analyst survey by PNC Capital Markets LLC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority warned firms on Monday that they need to conduct adequate due diligence to determine if bank loans and private placements involve municipal securities.

Issuers and dealers are criticizing as incompatible with the municipal bond market the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed rule changes to establish a process for determining markups and markdowns that may have to be disclosed to retail investors.

The Federal Reserve on Friday released final rule changes to treat more municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets under liquidity requirements for large financial institutions, but critics complain they do not go far enough and could hurt the muni market.

The Supreme Court’s refusal to take up a case on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s use of administrative proceedings to impose penalties in enforcement cases prompted a law firm to recommend those subject to administrative proceedings to challenge their constitutionality.

New best-execution regulations fail to call for or help establish what is missing in the fixed income market – a consolidated quote feed.

Bradley Wendt of Charles River Associates provides market context to the MSRB’s 2016 mandate that “best execution,” a hallmark of the taxable fixed income and equity markets, becomes a staple for retail municipal bond investors.

Some investors holding millions of dollars of bonds in default in the Florida panhandle are upset by what they see as inaction by trustee Bank of Oklahoma Financial and a fired employee with links to accused fraudster Christopher Brogdon.