Washington

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday it has charged the City of Harrisburg, Pa., with securities fraud for making misleading public statements when its financial condition was deteriorating.

The largest trend facing the municipal world right now is efforts on multiple fronts to become more transparent, according to speakers at a Wednesday panel at the National Federation of Municipal Analyst's annual conference.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is requesting comments on a proposal to consolidate current fair dealing rule guidance into two stand-alone rules defining sophisticated municipal market professionals and laying out dealer obligations to them.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Wednesday that former board member Milroy A. Alexander has rejoined the group as a public representative through Sept. 30 due to some shuffling in the wake of board member Peter Taylor's resignation.

A municipal bond market task force issued a paper on Wednesday urging state and local issuers and conduit borrowers to consider voluntarily disclosing certain information about bank loans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Victorville, Calif., a city official, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, and underwriter Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios, charging them with defrauding investors by inflating valuations of property in connection with a 2008 bond offering.

Some Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board members are concerned about dealer financial advisory contracts with issuers that appear to disclaim away the dealers' legal and regulatory obligations, MSRB chair Jay Goldstone said Friday after the board's meeting at its headquarters in Alexandria. Va.

Municipal exchange traded funds have become part of the municipal market product mix, but should be part of an overall investment program and not solely relied upon, Municipal Market Advisors said in a white paper tracing the evolution of ETFs from 2007 through 2012.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has updated its guidance for individual municipal bond investors by urging them to ask brokers questions about issuer disclosures and bond insurer ratings.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's John Cross told attendees at a Bond Buyer Conference Monday that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's G-17 guidance has helped craft the long-awaited municipal advisor rule.