Washington

The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors voted at its annual meeting Thursday to change its name to the National Association of Municipal Advisors, and has elected Terri Heaton of Springsted Inc. as the renamed organization's president.

UBS has agreed to compensate 34 Puerto Rico-based investors for their losses in investments in their municipal bond closed ended funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is concerned that Municipal Advisors are not registering properly and that some may be attempting to manipulate the MA rule as a marketing tool.

The cyber consultant who discovered that Cutwater Asset Management's server for its local government investment pool clients was not secure, says this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Months after the municipal advisor registration rule's final effective date, there is still considerable confusion among both regulated entities and issuers about what the new regulations require.

Former Financial Industry Regulatory Authority vice chairman Stephen Luparello received $5.34 million of total compensation in 2012 — the highest of any of the individuals in The Bond Buyer's annual survey of the compensation levels at 21 industry, self-regulatory, state and local, and muni related groups.

Municipal issuers need to understand the thinking inside the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division, take steps to protect themselves, and think about whether fundamental changes to muni market regulation might be in their best interests, said former SEC lawyer Peter Chan.

Broker-dealers who voluntarily reported disclosure missteps under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative shouldn't just sit around waiting for the SEC to make contact.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has renamed its Fundamentals of Municipal Bond Law Seminar scholarship program after the late Frederic "Rick" L. Ballard Jr.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced settlement of an investigation of anticompetitive activities involving underwriting fees paid by municipal utility districts in the Houston area.