Washington

A federal banking rule that doesn't classify municipal bonds as high-quality liquid assets needs to be reworked to ensure it won't impede critical infrastructure development, Sen. Chuck Schumer told regulators on Tuesday.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has many ongoing projects, including completing an analysis of the long-term implications of a self-reporting disclosure enforcement program, commenting on the SEC's 2012 municipal market report, and providing regulators with its views on tax issues, said its incoming president Antonio "Tony" Martini.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined two firms a total of $31,000 dollars for violations of municipal securities rules, FINRA disclosed in the September monthly disciplinary actions it released Monday.

Two ex-JPMorgan bankers shouldn't be allowed to give statements six years after taking the Fifth Amendment in the Jefferson County, Ala., sewer bond and swap case, the SEC says.

The Bond Dealers of America has hired two new people and promoted a current employee to boost its advocacy efforts.

Bank regulators may think excluding municipal securities from high-quality liquid assets in their liquidity rule is no big deal, but Moody's Investors Service issued a report on Friday saying it may negatively affect credit ratings in the muni market.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, the primary regulator of the $3.7 trillion municipal market, plans to move back to Washington, D.C. after spending more than 15 years in Alexandria, Va.

A Treasury Department official, a former Federal Reserve Board chair, congressional staffers and state treasurers spoke at an industry-sponsored municipal securities conference on Thursday that was closed to the press.

Dave Sanchez, a lawyer who previously worked in the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities, has launched a new practice that will focus on securities law compliance for issuers and municipal advisors.

A large number of dealer firms have voluntarily reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission deals they underwrote where issuers failed to disclose noncompliance with their continuing disclosure agreements, the SEC's enforcement director said Wednesday.