Washington

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board may be able to publish guidance on its best execution rule as early as next month, MSRB officials said Monday.

Rating agencies are continuing to treat municipal issuers unfairly even though federal law required that practice to stop, former California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated Hester Peirce to finish Daniel Gallagher’s term until June 5, 2016, and Lisa Fairfax to replace Luis Aguilar for a five-year term to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A proposed House bill to treat investment grade and actively traded municipal securities as high quality liquid assets received support from members of a House Financial Services Committee panel as well as banking experts during a hearing on Wednesday.

The Treasury Department's Antonio Weiss and Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla will testify on Thursday before a Senate Committee on the territory's economy, debt and options that should be considered by Congress.

South Carolina’s Tuomey Healthcare System has negotiated a reduced settlement of $72.4 million with the Justice Department for filing 21,000 false Medicare claims.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is extending the date for comments on its recently proposed markup disclosure rule while an industry group wants the board to delay the implementation deadline for its best execution rule.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed changes to extend its gift rule to municipal advisors “remain unclear in crucial areas” and “do not go far enough to prevent abuses” by both MAs and broker-dealers, the National Association of Municipal Advisors said.

Landolt Securities, Inc. has been ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to pay $20,000 for violating municipal trade reporting, books and records, and supervisory rules.

Christopher Brogdon, who was at the center of more than a dozen problematic healthcare municipal bond deals for which at least $2 million was unaccounted for, will resign from the board of healthcare firm AdCare.