Washington

Bond lawyers are worried that exemptions from registration under the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal advisor rule might not protect long-established practices by themselves and their underwriter clients.

Bond lawyers need to tell federal tax regulators what aspects of the proposed issue price rules are unworkable and then recommend alternatives or fixes, a Treasury Department official said Wednesday in Chicago.

Broker-dealers are concerned about the exemptions provided for underwriters in the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal advisor registration rule, saying it hampers their ability to "pitch ideas" to issuers.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is working on projects aimed at shedding more light on the varying strength of general obligation bond pledges, as well post-issuance tax and disclosure compliance, NABL president-elect Allen Robertson said in a recent interview.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed rule changes on retail order periods would be burdensome, costly and would result in unintended adverse consequences for dealers and issuers, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association warned on Monday.

Elaine Greenberg, former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal securities and public pensions enforcement unit, has joined the Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP's office here, the firm announced Monday.

The Nebraska Public Power District has agreed to pay $350,000 to the Internal Revenue Service to settle a tax law dispute regarding $50.36 million of Build America Bonds it issued in 2009.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed a proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would prohibit, with a few exceptions, broker-dealers from providing consent to issuer requests to change bond authorizing documents.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel has ruled against The Police and Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit, which was seeking at least $39.9 million from Citigroup Global Markets, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and other firms over risky investments.

Market participants are generally pleased that the Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a municipal adviser definition that addressed concerns from several sectors of the muni bond industry, but independent MAs remain concerned that the registration exemptions might allow for abuses Dodd-Frank was intended to curb.