Washington

The Bond Dealers of America is stepping up its educational efforts on regulation and electronic trading as well as trying to increase its connections on Capitol Hill, said new BDA board chairman Steve Genyk.

Two divisions of Morgan Stanley have agreed to be censured and pay $675,000 to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that the dealers misrepresented taxable municipal bond interest paid to customers as tax-exempt.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association announced that it has developed model sophisticated municipal market professional, or SMMP, documentation to allow firms to comply with muni rules when dealing with investors who need less regulatory protection.

Nine large public pension funds, including those from New York and Connecticut, have asked the SEC to strengthen the disclosure of corporate board diversity.

The municipal advisory business has exploded over the past 30 years, as economic, regulatory, and technological developments have combined to create a bigger business that is increasingly dominated by firms focused mostly on MA services.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s revised estimates of the burden of complying with its main disclosure rule still inaccurate, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association told the commission in a new letter.

A federal appeals court will hear oral arguments May 15 in the case of three convicted bid riggers seeking to have their convictions overturned.

A Republican congressman said Tuesday he is concerned that the Securities and Exchange Commission's approach to municipal market enforcement risks creating an environment where only big players will get a seat at the table.

State revenues from gambling show weakness despite gambling expansion, according to a report from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Former RBC Capital Markets managing director Mel Schonhorst achieved a measure of success after seven years trying to clear his name in a Texas investigation that cost him his job though he was never accused of anything.