Joan Quigley

A bond attorney urged colleagues to do more for “market betterment” by supporting legislative efforts to give the SEC authority to develop “a uniform baseline disclosure rule.”

A pension expert panned federal lawmakers’ efforts to increase oversight of state and local governments’ public pension plans.

A House oversight committee hearing slated to examine state and municipal debt Thursday devolved into an extended debate about collective bargaining, featuring two sitting governors from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Independent financial advisers blasted the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board for its draft muni-adviser fiduciary duty rule, saying it targeted independent FAs while virtually exempting underwriters, some of which market themselves as advisers.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s draft rule on gifts and gratuities could shut down muni advisers, the municipal market’s largest financial adviser is ­warning.

Independent financial advisors are criticizing the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s draft changes to its rule on gifts and gratuities, warning they don’t go far enough to eliminate conflicts of interest.

The municipal securities market is beset by problems that defy easy solutions, academics and experts told municipal analysts Friday.

Self-regulatory officials may assess fees on municipal advisors based on their advisory activity and are focused on disclosure to retail muni investors.

Independent financial advisers are warning the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed changes to Rule G-23 contain loopholes that would allow dealer-financial advisers to switch roles and become underwriters in the same muni transactions.

Securities and Exchange Commission officials are urging market participants to provide their views about the muni industry and how it can be improved, after the SEC was forced by budget cuts to suspend a series of field hearings that were to be held around the country.

Just one day after the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board issued a draft rule on muni advisors’ fiduciary duties, market participants are questioning the scope of the rule and whether it would apply to dealer-advisers.

As a House Judiciary Committee panel meets Monday to hold a hearing on public pensions and the need for state bankruptcy protection, pension and muni bond experts are opposing a recently introduced bill that would prohibit them from issuing tax-exempt bonds unless they subject their pension plans to federal oversight and regulation.

House panel members on Wednesday opposed federal bailouts for municipal governments and were reluctant to provide states with bankruptcy protection, but they seemed to support requiring improved public pension fund disclosure.

On the eve of congressional hearings examining whether unfunded pension liabilities could trigger severe fiscal stress for state and local governments, a coalition of 10 groups representing state and ­local entities said public pensions are not in crisis and are not ­seeking federal assistance.

The top Democrat on a House panel that plans to hold a hearing Wednesday on “State and Municipal Debt: The Coming Crisis,” believes states and localities need to reform their pension systems, but is uncertain about whether states in severe fiscal distress should be permitted to file for bankruptcy protection.