Washington

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission has extended for one year its temporary registration rules for municipal advisors, the second extension since the SEC issued the temporary rule late 2010.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has updated its disclosure best-practices paper for issuers of hospital debt in response to market changes spurred by the financial crisis.

Gary Goldsholle, vice president and association general counsel at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, has been named general counsel at the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and will join the board in late October.

The House of Representatives passed a bill late Wednesday that would narrow the definition of municipal advisor and exempt a number of market participants from being subject to MA registration and other rules.

Public interest and other groups scrambled to send letters to lawmakers opposing a municipal advisor bill they fear will roll back critical components of the Dodd-Frank Act.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered five firms to pay $137,500 in fines for violations of trade reporting and other municipal securities rules.

Municipal analysts and other muni market participants are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to strengthen a proposal to tighten bond-ballot campaign contribution reporting requirements for dealers.

Fewer than 10% of general-obligation bond issuers filed annual audited financial reports within the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's recommended 120-day period in 2011, according to a report from muni research firm Merritt Research Services LLC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board launched a series of free online training videos Thursday to help dealers and issuers submit primary- and secondary-market disclosures to the board's EMMA system.

Government officials are on a path to regulating municipal advisors, but real reform won't come until issuers demand higher standards from their advisors, a market observer is warning.