Washington

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered R.M. Duncan Securities, its president and chief executive officer, and a broker to pay a combined $166,000 for selling defaulted municipal securities from their own accounts to seniors at unreasonably high prices and for not maintaining adequate supervisory procedures.

Kym Arnone has joined Jefferies LLC to jointly head its municipal investment banking business with Neil Flanagan as part of an effort to expand the firm’s municipal securities business.

The second wave of underwriter settlements was similar to the first, but with some new details on issuers failures to comply with prior continuing disclosure undertakings.

In a first-of-a-kind action, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released a compliance advisory for municipal advisors on Thursday to help them understand and implement new regulations.

Patrick Sweeney, Fidelity Capital Markets' senior vice president and manager of the municipal securities department, joined the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Thursday, replacing Edward Tishelman, who left TD Securities.

Recent MCDC settlements provide guidance concerning the scope of materiality in continuing disclosure obligations.

Seven former Internal Revenue Service commissioners are decrying ongoing House and Senate appropriations cuts for the IRS, warning they are hurting tax enforcement as well as taxpayer assistance, among other things.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing amendments to move the municipal securities industry to a T+2 settlement cycle instead of the current T+3 in the wake of continued calls from across the securities industry and support from regulatory officials.

The SEC recently approved a new set of rules that would likely alter the behavior of one of the municipal bond market's largest, and one of the most influential, investor segments of the industry — mutual funds. Surprisingly, the industry appears not to be considering its full implications outside of a few closed circles.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is proposing a limited exception to the controversial principal transaction ban in its proposed municipal advisor core conduct rule.