The SEC recently brought fraud charges against Sterlington, Louisiana and its former mayor and separately against Rochester, New York and its former executives and Rochester’s municipal advisors and principals/owners...more
Governmental entities have increasingly experienced cybersecurity incidents impacting their operations and finances over the last few years, with some breaches costing upwards of $40 million. Many issuers and borrowers of...more
During the 2022 Legislative Session, the General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed into law, HB 5506, commonly referred to as the Implementer (the “New Law”). For municipalities issuing bonds and refunding bonds,...more
The topics of Cybersecurity and Climate Change disclosure are generating increased investor and rating agency interest in municipal bond issuances. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns about the...more
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
COVID-19 is creating more questions than answers in every sector of American life recent days, and the municipal bond market is no exception. Issuers and obligated persons for municipal bonds (collectively, “Obligated...more
Our thoughts are with you, your loved ones and organizations as we all navigate this public health crisis together. We are providing this alert to our public finance clients and other professionals regarding COVID-19 and its...more
Disclosure to municipal bond investors of material risks stemming from the coronavirus outbreak presents a serious concern in the municipal securities industry. This is particularly true in certain sectors, including bonds...more
The Situation: The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board ("MSRB") amended its rules regarding primary offering practices and disclosures in connection with primary offerings to enhance regulatory transparency, ensure equal...more
On August 29, 2019, an Illinois court denied a petition by a political activist and a hedge fund seeking leave to file a lawsuit claiming that approximately $16 billion of Illinois’s general obligation bonds (“GO Bonds”) were...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
Issuers or obligated persons (together, an "Issuer") of municipal securities will be required to add two new events to the list of reportable material events in their continuing disclosure undertakings entered into after...more
On August 20, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued Release No. 34-83885 (the “Release”) adding two new events (the “New Events”) to the list of events that must be included in the continuing disclosure...more
On August 20, in response to the recent trend of issuers and obligated persons increasingly using direct purchases of municipal securities and direct loans (“bank placements”) as alternatives to public offerings, the...more
On August 20, 2018 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments to 17 CFR 240.15c2-12, commonly referred to as “Rule 15c2-12”, which deals with continuing disclosure obligations. According to the SEC’s...more
On August 20, 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted amendments to Rule 15c2-12 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These amendments require additional disclosure related to the material...more
On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had adopted amendments "to improve municipal securities disclosure". Specifically, the SEC amended Exchange Act Rule 15c2-12 which requires brokers,...more
Regulation FD prohibits public companies from disclosing material nonpublic information to designated classes of persons such as securities professionals and holders of the issuer’s securities without, in most cases,...more
On March 1, 2017, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published for comment proposed amendments to Rule 15c2-12 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) that would expand the list of events triggering...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ended settlements under its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative. Details of the SEC’s MCDC Initiative can be found in our prior Alert. For those...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
On August 24, 2016, the SEC announced that it had entered into settlement orders with 71 municipal issuers and other obligated persons for violations of federal securities laws in municipal bond offerings. The issuers and...more
On August 24, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers and other obligated persons (collectively, the municipal issuers) under the SEC’s Municipalities...more
Coming as welcome news to those involved in the municipal bond market, Revenue Procedure 2016-44 provides helpful guidance for governmental issuers and 501(c)(3) borrowers entering into long-term contracts with private...more
In responding to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative, the unanswered question for many municipalities and broker-dealers was determining whether...more