Commentary

On October 5th, the MSRB issued a Request for Comment on two draft compliance resources – one for Dealers and the other for Municipal Advisors – concerning New Issue Pricing (“RFC”). Comments are due by January 4th, 2022. The stated goal for the compliance resources is “to enhance understanding regarding the existing regulatory standards applicable to regulated entities’ supervision of conduct when pricing a new issuance of municipal securities.”

On May 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Public Statement, “The Importance of Disclosure for our Municipal Markets,” that encouraged municipal issuers to provide updated financial and other disclosures associated with the effects of COVID-19…

FINRA, in an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC), recently settled an action with NatAlliance Securities for violations of MSRB Rule G-13, G-17 and G-27. The settlement of a matter involving G-13 is the first time a firm has been charged with violating that rule since 2003 and left some wondering if FINRA was using enforcement cases to establish compliance standards.

As we contemplate the state of the municipal market today, issuance and the strong demand for many types of municipal bonds provide an “all is well” feeling.

Budget season is always interesting as organizations look to their crystal balls to set goals for the coming year which inevitably includes the arduous task of resource management.

Pricing deals in today’s highly volatile market is not for the faint of heart. While historically low-interest rates provide an outstanding opportunity for issuers, buyers of bonds may not be so fast to bite as pointed out in this publication on March 13.