Washington

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it will meet next Wednesday to consider money market fund rules.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to simplify and harmonize its rules on professional designations has drawn applause from a dealers group.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will re-propose its draft Rule G-42 on the duties of non-solicitor advisors, the MSRB confirmed Tuesday.

Dealers pay less for munis than customers, particularly when there is more time between trades, according to a long-awaited study commissioned by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. But market sources say the finding is not surprising and that the report is limited in its results.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has permanently barred a former employee of a broker-dealer and investment advisory firm from the financial markets and ordered him to pay more than $200,000 of restitution to a customer he swindled.

Utah Treasurer Richard Ellis is making a push to educate his state's issuers about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative, which many public officials remain uninformed about.

Bond lawyers and issuers are frustrated that the Securities and Exchange Commission did not specify the disclosure failures that led to its settlement with a California school district on Tuesday. They said it leaves them with no helpful guidance on what kinds of disclosures the SEC is focusing on in its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation voluntary enforcement initiative.

The Securities and Exchange Commission settled its first case under its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative after charging a school district in California with misleading bond investors about its past compliance with its continuing disclosure obligations.

Chicago named one of its financial consultants, Martin J. Luby, as its independent registered municipal advisor to evaluate financing proposals as it seeks to comply with new regulations without stemming creative financing suggestions.

The Government Finance Officers Association has issued an alert for issuer officials urging them to approach the Securities and Exchange Commission's continuing disclosure self-reporting program cautiously, and advising the group's members that attempts to lobby the SEC for changes to the initiative have been largely unsuccessful.