Washington

The MSRB has asked market participants how to improve the timeliness, fairness and efficiency of price transparency in the muni market, and whether dealers should be required to report trades in less time than the currently-required 15 minutes from execution.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Daniel Gallagher said Wednesday that many improvements to the municipal securities market can be made by the SEC without seeking regulatory authority over municipal issuers from Congress.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council has extended the deadline for submitting comments on proposed regulations of money market mutual funds to Feb. 15 from Jan. 18.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered nine firms to pay a total of $297,500 in fines and nearly $32,000 in restitution for violating rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Two former bankers, Steven Goldberg and Peter Grimm, at an affiliate of General Electric Co. have contested a Justice Department request that they pay $6.9 million in restitution for their role in a scheme to rig bids for municipal bond reinvestment contracts.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has postponed action on a plan to increase fees for municipal securities with multiple CUSIPs pending discussions with municipal market groups, said a DTCC spokesperson.

Robert Khuzami plans to leave the Securities and Exchange Commission after serving as its enforcement director for four years, the SEC announced Wednesday.

Timothy Ryan, president and chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, plans to leave the group on Feb. 23, SIFMA announced Tuesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority assessed financial firms and individuals $68 million in fines in 2012 and ordered them to pay a record $34 million in restitution to investors, the regulator announced Tuesday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported annual revenue of $39.9 million for the fiscal year ending in September, a 19% gain over last year's $33.5 million, according to the board's annual report, released Tuesday.