JPMorgan fails to disclose
Charlie Gasparino of Fox Business News seems to have scooped a muniland story yesterday when he reported that JPMorgan had failed to include material facts in a municipal bond offering on which it was...
View ArticleMatt Taibbi and the muniland mafia
Matt Taibbi, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, talks to radio personality Don Imus about municipal bid-rigging. Cheers to Matt Taibbi for “The Scam Wall Street Learned from the Mafia,” his...
View ArticleCongress should protect municipalities from bad advice
Municipal advisers, those muniland professionals who are hired by public officials to evaluate their needs for financing and guide them through the underwriting process, don’t receive enough attention....
View ArticleMake way for new muniland disclosure and market structure
The SEC released its long-awaited report on muniland disclosure and price transparency yesterday. Ten years from now, every retail investor will want to say a word of thanks to Commissioner Elisse...
View ArticlePay to play beyond Goldman Sachs
The SEC caught a big fish in muniland that was clearly breaking the “pay-to-play” rules. Pay-to-play is when municipal bond underwriters give contributions to politicians to win underwriting business....
View ArticleSallie Krawcheck should not run the SEC
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Sallie Krawcheck, formerly of Citi and Bank of America, is the leading contender to be named chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Let’s hope...
View ArticleThe SEC rounds up muniland’s bad guys
The SEC – the top law enforcer for muniland – has been riding the range. With 17 municipal securities enforcement actions in 2012, the SEC cops have come up with a nice collection of scalps. The Bond...
View ArticleShould the SEC hire bounty-hunters?
The majority of pundits and market observers have only tuned into the effectiveness of the SEC as financial market regulator since 2008, when the financial system nearly collapsed. So far, criticism...
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Robert Khuzami: Master distracter
I blogged recently in support of Columbia Law professor John Coffee’s proposal for the SEC to hire outside expert attorneys to prosecute complex cases. He called the performance of the current SEC...
View ArticleCan fixed income markets be regulated?
The SEC has announced that it will hold a Fixed Income Roundtable on April 16 in Washington to discuss improving the transparency and efficiency of fixed income markets. This news is welcome and long...
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SEC must look beyond US borders to reform the fixed income markets
The SEC is holding a Fixed Income Roundtable on April 16 to examine ways to improve the transparency and efficiency of the fixed income markets. This is the first time that I am aware of that the SEC...
View ArticleA huddle over market transparency
The SEC held a fixed income roundtable on Tuesday to discuss two important issues: market structure and ways to improve it for municipal and corporate bonds. The SEC has as much authority to regulate...
View ArticleHarrisburg joins Jefferson County with muniland securities fraud charge
The near-bankrupt city of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was charged this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission with securities fraud. Here is the official language (emphasis mine): The Securities...
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Should asset backed securities be outlawed?
On Tuesday the SEC is holding a roundtable on credit ratings to address the ongoing question of ratings shopping. Rating shopping is when a bond issuer shops its deal to various credit rating agencies...
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Memo to Congress: Increase funding for the SEC
The newly confirmed chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary Jo White, testified to the House Financial Services Committee on May 16 and requested an increase in funding for her agency....
View ArticleWhy SEC adviser rules are desperately needed
Stockton, California is in the early stages of their bankruptcy and a local grand jury polled current city council members about their understanding of public finance. Does the latest round of public...
View ArticleThe SEC’s role in building better markets
The SEC has just launched a new part of its website dedicated to analyzing the structure of equity markets. Here is how the SEC describes it: The Securities and Exchange Commission created this website...
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The SEC’s new municipal adviser rule is not confusing
Governing.com ran a story titled “Why’s the SEC’s New Municipal Advisor Rule So Confusing?” Actually the new rule, although not yet finalized, is not confusing. There are resources for muniland...
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A revolution in muniland
By Cate Long In a speech last week at the Economic Club of New York, SEC Chairman Mary Jo White set out three new initiatives that will reorder the way fixed income markets serve retail investors....
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