Bill on Bankruptcy: Stockton May Win the Battle, Lose the War
On September 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settlement with investment advisory firm Buckman Advisory Group LLC (“Buckman Advisory”) and its CEO Harry Buckman Jr. to settle...more
Summary - The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced enforcement proceedings against four municipal market underwriters for alleged violations of municipal bond disclosure requirements. Three of the...more
In a nation seemingly becoming more polarized along political lines every day, not even the normally quiet and steady world of public finance remains untouched. Recently proposed and adopted anti-boycott type legislative...more
Introduction - Over the past several years, local government issuers have increasingly been privately placing bonds and other municipal debt obligations directly with banks or other purchasers rather than utilizing an...more
On August 15, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") created new disclosure obligations for borrowers that issue debt through the municipal bond market. ...more
It has traditionally been a fairly common practice in the municipal bond arena for issuers to either select or have significant input into the selection of underwriter’s counsel in connection with the issuance of municipal...more
On April 5, as one of several enforcement actions relating to an alleged Ponzi scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission settled an administrative enforcement action against a municipal bond underwriter accused of...more
On April 5, 2017 the SEC released two orders instituting cease-and-desist proceedings (consent decrees) which are the first post-MCDC cases finding securities law violations based on misstatements in official statements...more
The Internal Revenue Service promulgated final Issue Price Regulations under Section 148 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, that were published in the Federal Register on December 9, 2016. The new regulations...more
OPEC has reached a tentative deal among its 14 member nations to “modestly cut” their oil output toward the end of the year in an effort to shore up sagging oil prices–an announcement that immediately sent global oil prices...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers of bonds in connection with the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative. The...more
California State Treasurer John Chiang has adopted a new pay-to-play policy for firms participating in the state’s underwriter pool. By August 31, 2016, firms will need to certify that they will abide by the policy, or risk...more
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
Our first post in this series examined the regulatory and contractual considerations for municipal securities issuers and conduit borrowers using shelf registration. Now we examine the equally important considerations for...more
Municipal bond offerings have become a key focus of SEC Enforcement. The agency has brought a series of actions in addition to an initiative that encourages the self-reporting of underwriters in return for reduced sanctions....more
The SEC filed fourteen settled actions against municipal underwriting firms this week. The settlements were part of a program that commenced in 2014 called the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative. The...more
Late last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced its enforcement results for fiscal year 2015, reporting a record number of enforcement actions and the highest amount of fines collected by the SEC to...more
On September 30, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against 22 municipal bond underwriters, the second round of enforcement actions brought by the SEC under the Municipalities...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week announced enforcement actions under its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative, targeting 22 municipal bond underwriting firms for alleged due...more
A second insider trading action was brought by the Commission against a senior banking official based on the same take-over for which he was previously charged — but a different securities trading account is at the center of...more
On June 18, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against 36 municipal bond underwriters, the first enforcement actions against underwriters brought by the SEC under the...more
Issuers, underwriters and advisors in the municipal bond marketplace are facing unprecedented challenges from federal regulators in connection with both the issuance of bonds and ongoing post-issuance compliance. These...more
On March 10, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a voluntary self-reporting program for issuers and underwriters of municipal bonds for reporting of inaccurate statements made in offering documents...more
As highlighted in the SEC’s 2012 Municipal Market Report, the SEC has expressed significant concern that many issuers have not been complying with their obligation to file continuing disclosure documents and that federal...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended the deadline for issuers and obligors to self-report potential violations of their continuing disclosure obligations from the original deadline of September 10, 2014...more