Andrew Ackerman

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that investors can for the first time access detailed information that money market funds file with the SEC under changes to Rule 2a-7 that it implemented last year.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to seek public comment on a series of new rules and interpretive guidance in the next four to six weeks, most of which stem from its new oversight of muni advisors

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved two sets of rules for asset-backed securities Thursday, including one that would apply to certain municipal securities in early 2015.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $500,000 for failing to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures to ensure that its representatives considered customers’ state income-tax benefits in their suitability analyses of 529 college saving plans.

Only half as many muni advisory firms are registered with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board compared to those registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, even though advisory firms are now required to sign up with both regulators under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Monday proposed a lengthy new rule to establish a permanent registration system for municipal advisory firms as well as individual advisers that would replace a temporary system for firms the SEC put in place in September.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has upped the ante in its dispute with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board over the self-regulator’s proposal to nearly double the fees it collects from dealers, warning that the MSRB must do a better job of explaining the need for the increase.

James Hertz, a former vice president and marketer in JPMorgan’s municipal derivatives group, pleaded guilty Tuesday to three criminal counts for engaging in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies connected with guaranteed investment contracts and other municipal finance agreements, the Justice Department announced.

The SEC should rein in the ABA's CUSIP Service Bureau and prevent it from charging financial market participants unreasonable and unwarranted fees, say three trade groups.

Industry groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to provide it with an additional $17 million in revenue annually by nearly doubling the amount of transaction fees it collects from dealers.

Issuers that want to avoid disclosure mishaps — and possible federal enforcement action — should develop and closely follow policies as well as procedures that lay out who must review and sign off on their disclosure documents, Securities and Exchange Commission officials are stressing.

Congress's offer to share some recovered assets with whistleblowers is leading to a flood of informants.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed the municipal securities field hearing it planned to hold in Chicago on Nov. 16.

Four former San Diego officials have agreed to pay civil penalties totaling $80,000 to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission that they were negligent in misleading investors about the city’s pension and retiree health care liabilities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to launch its new office of municipal securities by the end of October, chairman Mary Schapiro said in prepared testimony presented to the Senate Banking Committee Thursday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has quietly hired the head-hunting firm Korn/Ferry ­International to find candidates to lead a new municipal securities office that will have a higher stature within the SEC.

A number of Build America Bond issuers are seeking voluntary closing agreements with the Internal Revenue Service to settle accidental violations of a de minimis premium rule, an IRS official told industry officials in Manhattan yesterday.

The combination of having at least three of the proposed 10 “industry” seats on its expanded board dedicated to nondealer muni advisors, along with the establishment of a council of advisors to bounce ideas off the board, will ensure that advisors are fairly regulated beginning Oct. 1, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is insisting.

An analyst painted a grim picture of the state of disclosure in the municipal bond market, after Securities and Exchange Commissioner Elisse Walter Tuesday kicked off the SEC’s first regional municipal securities field hearing here.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday announced that it has adopted a temporary rule requiring municipal advisers to register with it by Oct. 1 in order to comply with the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.