SEC to Charter Schools: Avoid these risks when you engage your financing team - If you’ve financed a school facility – or you’re thinking about it – the SEC is watching (out for) you and the financing team you hire. They’ve...more
A bond issue (a debt obligation of a local government) is often perceived as a mystery for many Pennsylvania local government officials and solicitors. The securities and tax regulations governing municipal bonds have grown...more
FINRA recently published its 90-page 2024 Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (Report) providing member firms with insight into six primary topics: Financial Crimes, Crypto Asset Development, Firm Operations, Communications...more
The 2023 elections are a little over a month away, and hopefully, if your corporation holds or seeks state and local government business, you have been regularly reminding your directors, officers, and other employees about...more
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) is implementing changes to login accounts for its Electronic Municipal Market Access System (“EMMA”) that may affect issuers and other obligors making continuing disclosure...more
The newly-enacted Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) has the potential to significantly change the format currently used by issuers and conduit borrowers in submitting financial information to the Municipal Securities...more
On February 7, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Examinations announced its fiscal year 2023 examination priorities. This year, the Division continues its focus on protecting investors by prioritizing...more
In December of 2022, Congress enacted the Financial Data Transparency Act (the “FDTA”), legislation intended to modernize and improve the organization, readability and availability of financial information collected by...more
The Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 (FDTA), enacted by Congress as Title LVIII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2022. The FDTA is...more
In September 2022, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had filed suit against one broker-dealer underwriter and entered into settlements with three other broker-dealer underwriters in cases...more
In an unprecedented move, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) recently filed litigation against one underwriter of municipal securities and announced settlements with three others. The litigation and...more
The Commission’s rule writing calendar may be about to have a meltdown. The agency is considering a number of significant rule writing-proposals covering important areas. A number of those proposals are controversial,...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
A significant expansion of rules relating to cybersecurity risks - particularly for the financial sector - is under consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In public remarks last week, SEC Chair...more
The municipal securities market carried its momentum from the first half of 2021 into a strong finish for the year against the backdrop of continued regulatory and enforcement actions. Despite new variants of COVID-19...more
In order to make an informed investment decision as to the purchase of municipal bonds, the latest trend is for investors to evaluate environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors relative to the bond issuers in...more
The municipal securities market started the first half of 2021 strong against the backdrop of regulatory and enforcement actions, all while the remnants of COVID-19 continued to impact travel, commerce, and the economy....more
Municipal advisors, as well as other regulated entities, should be aware of their general obligations under Federal securities laws and MSRB Rules when formulating advice about securities or products, in particular if it...more
The focus on quantifying LIBOR exposure and related disclosure requirements may be a ‘red herring.’ The real issues are (i) whether the LIBOR transition is merely an excuse to change the effective interest rates of financial...more
On May 4, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) released a public statement from Chairman Jay Clayton and Rebecca Olsen, Director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities (“OMS”), titled, “The...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
Every continuing disclosure undertaking entered into under Section (b)(5)(i) of Rule 15c2-12 (the “Rule”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requires the issuer or obligated person (as defined in the Rule)...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
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
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