On April 9, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) filed with the SEC a temporary rule change that waived certain late fees and delayed some key compliance deadlines....more
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) on April 2 published its statistical analysis and list of COVID-19 continuing disclosures filed by municipal issuers during the first quarter of 2020. Of 43,667 disclosures,...more
The SEC has gathered its guidance in a single location. Topics covered include:
(a) The SEC’s own Business Continuity Plan (“BCP”) and its implementation;
(b) Increased market monitoring and surveillance...more
3/20/2020
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
CFTC ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Governance ,
Derivatives ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Event Cancellation ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Insider Trading ,
Investment ,
MSRB ,
Public Meetings ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Relief Measures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
FINRA held its bi-annual Cybersecurity Conference in January and recently published five take-away real-world experiences from the conference...more
2/27/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Management ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Digital Assets ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Hackers ,
Information Governance ,
Information Security ,
Information Technology ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Liquidity Management ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
OCIE ,
Phishing Scams ,
Popular ,
Regulation BI ,
SEC Examination Priorities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Vulnerability Assessments
Last week, the MSRB issued “guidance” on the application of Rule G-42 conduct standards for Municipal Advisors in conduit issues. The “guidance” highlights ambiguities from the “for or on behalf” language in the MA Rule when...more
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a suit by the Tennessee, Georgia and New York Republican parties challenging the constitutionality of an MSRB extending pay-to-play prohibition to municipal advisors. The Court...more
7/14/2017
/ Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Institutions ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Municipal Securities Market ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rule G-37 ,
Standing
The two remaining SEC Commissioners agreed March 1 to propose amendments “requiring” municipal securities issuers to disclose non-security financial obligations and material events occurring in other outstanding obligations....more
The Sixth Circuit this week declined the SEC’s request to dismiss a Constitutional challenge to the new MSRB pay-to-play rules. Instead, the Court ordered the case to a merits panel for consideration. The Republican parties...more
The Sixth Circuit this week declined the SEC’s request to dismiss a Constitutional challenge to the new MSRB pay-to-play rules. Instead, the Court ordered the case to a merits panel for consideration. The Republican parties...more
10/10/2016
/ Administrative Merits Determinations ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment Adviser ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC announced August 25 that it approved FINRA’s pay-to-play rules governing placement-agent or solicitor broker-dealers and was “prepared” to approve the extension of MSRB Rule G-37 to municipal advisors as well....more
9/8/2016
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment Adviser ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Rule 206(4)-5 ,
Rule G-37 ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
This SRO gamesmanship is making a mockery of governing.
The latest is the SEC’s position that it didn’t take any action on the new MSRB Rules extending pay-to-play prohibitions to municipal advisors, so it can’t be sued...more
8/2/2016
/ Bonds ,
Dodd-Frank ,
MSRB ,
Municipal Advisers ,
Municipal Bonds ,
Pay-To-Play ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Rule G-37 ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
SRO
The MSRB’s amended Rule G-42 becomes effective June 23, prescribing new conduct standards for municipal advisors and for the underwriters working with them. In advance of the effective date, the MSRB has published...more
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) issued a concept release last month suggesting that market transparency trumps the direct Congressional prohibition against federal regulations requiring filing of...more
On April 12, the Tennessee Republican Party filed a petition in the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, seeking to invalidate the SEC’s approval of new rules extending the MSRB’s long-standing “pay-to-play” prohibitions to new...more
The MSRB’s Rule G-37 amendments applying pay-to-play prohibitions to Municipal Advisors and their third-party solicitors will become effective August 17, 2016....more
On Christmas Eve’s eve, the SEC approved, without change, the MSRB’s proposed conduct rule for municipal advisors. Broadly, the Rule imposes:
New Rule G-42 has been in the works since January, 2014 and the MSRB filed two...more
On December 16, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) filed with the SEC a proposed rule that would extend to municipal advisers the MSRB’s existing rule prohibiting “pay-to-play” practices and restricting...more
Last Thursday, November 12, the MSRB published its Compliance Advisory for Municipal Advisors (“MA’s”). The new MA regulatory regime was imposed by Dodd-Frank and implemented by the MSRB and SEC over the past several years....more
The SEC recently approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s (“MSRB”) extension to Municipal Advisors (“MA’s”) of its dealer Rule G-20, restricting gifts in connection with municipal securities. The Rule also updates...more
On November 9, the MSRB filed yet another amendment to its proposed Municipal Advisor conduct Rule G-42. The amendment adds Supplemental Material -.14 and -.15, creating a narrow exception to the principal-transaction ban for...more
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) announced September 2 that it has submitted for SEC approval proposed amendments extending its gift-limitations Rule G-20 to municipal advisors.
In general, the Rule...more
The Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority fined a UBS unit $750,000 for mistakenly reporting customers’ municipal-bond-account interest was tax-exempt, when the firm’s handling of the trades made it taxable instead....more
The MSRB responded August 12 to the SEC’s initiation of proceedings on proposed conduct standards for Municipal Advisors, filing some amendments to the proposed Rule. The MSRB’s Amendment No. 1: MSRB declined to make a number...more
The SEC instituted proceedings August 6 to allow additional time – and analysis – of the MSRB’s proposed Rule G-42 establishing broad conduct standards for municipal advisors. The Order essentially buys more time for the SEC...more
The MSRB recently released a content outline for the new Series 50 Municipal Advisor Representative examination, which the SEC approved in principle earlier this year. See MSRB Reg. Notice 2015-06. The MSRB filed the Rule...more