Bill on Bankruptcy: Stockton May Win the Battle, Lose the War
The wildfires in Southern California earlier this year were another sobering reminder of the devastating impact of natural disasters on local communities, and Connecticut is certainly not immune....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
The topics of Cybersecurity and Climate Change disclosure are generating increased investor and rating agency interest in municipal bond issuances. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns about the...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
Disclosure to municipal bond investors of material risks stemming from the coronavirus outbreak presents a serious concern in the municipal securities industry. This is particularly true in certain sectors, including bonds...more
Federal Banking Agencies Expand Eligibility to Use Streamlined Call Reports - The federal banking agencies have adopted a final rule to reduce regulatory reporting requirements for certain banks with total assets of less...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
On August 20, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued Release No. 34-83885 (the “Release”) adding two new events (the “New Events”) to the list of events that must be included in the continuing disclosure...more
On August 20, in response to the recent trend of issuers and obligated persons increasingly using direct purchases of municipal securities and direct loans (“bank placements”) as alternatives to public offerings, the...more
On March 1, 2017, the Securities Exchange Commission voted in open meeting to propose amendments to Rule 15c2-12 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 adding two event notices to the current fourteen required in...more
In the first federal jury trial by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against a municipality or its officers, jurors found that the City of Miami, Florida (Miami or the City) and its former budget director...more
On August 24, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against 71 municipal issuers and other obligated persons (collectively, the municipal issuers) under the SEC’s Municipalities...more
On September 30, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced enforcement actions against 22 municipal bond underwriters, the second round of enforcement actions brought by the SEC under the Municipalities...more
Two recent SEC enforcement actions demonstrate that the Securities and Exchange Commission remains intently focused on the municipal market and, in particular, on officials participating in financings that fail to accurately...more
The SEC’s nationwide review of municipal bond disclosures yielded another enforcement action, this time against the state of Kanas. The Order centers on claims that the state failed to disclose its huge unfunded pension...more
As highlighted in the SEC’s 2012 Municipal Market Report, the SEC has expressed significant concern that many issuers have not been complying with their obligation to file continuing disclosure documents and that federal...more
On July 31, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission extended the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperative Initiative (“MCDC”) deadline to allow issuers and obligors more time to complete their reporting...more
The SEC settled its first action under the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative, launched on March 10, 2014. Under the Initiative the Enforcement Division agreed to recommend settlement on favorable,...more
Issuers and underwriters of municipal securities have been provided an opportunity by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) to self-report violations of the federal securities laws relating to...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative provides an opportunity for municipal bond issuers, borrowers and underwriters to correct misstatements in offering...more
Multiple news outlets have reported that the U.S. Treasury Department has created an Office of State and Local Finance tasked with monitoring the distressed local government sector of the municipal finance market. Kent...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission is making it clear: Government leaders who issue misleading financial information are putting themselves at risk. Several recent actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission...more
On July 29, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it had charged an Indiana school district and its underwriter with securities fraud for falsely stating in a 2007 offering document that the issuer was...more
For the first time, the Securities and Exchange Commission has charged a municipal bond issuer with securities fraud for falsely claiming that it was compliant with annual disclosure obligations....more
In the spring of 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the release of MSRB Notice 2012-25, which provided interpretive guidance on how SEC Rule G-17 applied to underwriters of municipal securities...more