Washington

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to set a trial date for two former JPMorgan bankers facing charges related to bankrupt Jefferson County's defaulted sewer deals.

Smaller banks and securities firms are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board not to shorten its current 15-minute trade reporting deadline or make changes to current trade reporting procedures.

Ohio-based American Municipal Power Inc. has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission tied to the Prairie State coal-fired plant, according to public documents obtained by an environmental group.

Bond lawyers should report an issuer's failure to comply with its continuing disclosure agreement, no matter how late, because doing so no longer carries a stigma and "does not hurt the issuer's ability to sell the bonds," panel members said at the National Association of Bond Lawyers Tax and Securities Law Institute here.

Though sequestration prevented two federal regulators from sharing their perspectives, other panelists speaking to bond lawyers in San Francisco predicted more enforcement and whistleblower activity.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is still months away from finalizing its definition of municipal advisor, but is poised to step up muni bond enforcement efforts in general, the head of the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities told bond lawyers meeting here.

The recent settlement by Illinois with the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of shoddy pension disclosure will lead to better disclosure overall and boost the credit of the entire municipal securities market, according to a report Moody's Investors Services released Friday.

Sentencing of David Rubin and his firm, CDR Financial Products Inc., for charges related to bid-rigging of municipal investment contracts, has been postponed by a federal judge until June 28.

Justice Department antitrust prosecutor Rebecca Meiklejohn and Internal Revenue Service agent Michael Okubo gave bond lawyers an indepth look at the investigations and prosecutions of convicted bid riggers, urging them to be more careful about looking for red flags that suggest laws are being violated in bond transactions.