In November 2024, the Township of White Lake, Michigan, fell victim to a cyberattack resulting in the wiring of approximately $29 million to the unauthorized account of the culprit. Before White Lake imminently closed on its...more
SEC to Charter Schools: Avoid these risks when you engage your financing team - If you’ve financed a school facility – or you’re thinking about it – the SEC is watching (out for) you and the financing team you hire. They’ve...more
SEC’s View of Disclosure Obligations Over the last fifteen years, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has increased its focus on inadequate disclosure relating to governmental debt issues. Although municipal bond...more
As is widely known, the new issue market slowed down in 2022 due to a variety of factors, including rising interest rates, reduced institutional demand resulting from municipal bond fund outflows, inflation and recession...more
In December of 2022, Congress enacted the Financial Data Transparency Act (the “FDTA”), legislation intended to modernize and improve the organization, readability and availability of financial information collected by...more
The Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 (FDTA), enacted by Congress as Title LVIII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, was signed into law by President Biden on December 23, 2022. The FDTA is...more
The Financial Data Transparency Act of 2022 (the “Act”), which was included as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, was signed into law on December 23, 2022. The Act requires that various federal regulatory...more
In an unprecedented move, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) recently filed litigation against one underwriter of municipal securities and announced settlements with three others. The litigation and...more
In March 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) released proposed rules that would require public companies to include certain climate-related disclosures in their registration statements and periodic...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 municipal securities market carried its momentum from the first half of 2021 into a strong finish for the year against the backdrop of continued regulatory and enforcement actions. Despite new variants of COVID-19...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
On May 4, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and the director of the Office of Municipal Securities issued a statement stressing the importance of “robust, timely, and accurate” municipal issuer disclosures in...more
On May 4, 2020, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton and Director of the Office of Municipal Securities Rebecca Olsen issued a statement encouraging municipal securities issuers and obligors (each referred...more
Municipal Issuers Urged to Consider Providing Voluntary Disclosure Regarding the Impacts of COVID-19 on Operations and Finances Municipal issuers with pending offerings of municipal securities or required filings are being...more
The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Director of the Office of Municipal Securities issued a public statement on May 4, 2020 (the Statement) with observations and requests regarding COVID-19...more
For many years, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advocated for increased transparency for municipal securities investors. Given the absence of a statutory scheme for municipal securities reporting, the...more
In a May 4 joint public statement, SEC Chair Clayton and Municipal Securities Office Director Rebecca Olsen urged municipal issuers to make voluntary disclosures specific to issuers, and their various outstanding municipal...more
Following on its guidance issued last month on the need for public companies to disclose the effects and uncertainties created by COVID-19, the SEC on May 4, 2020 reiterated those concerns to municipal securities issuers and...more
Given the far-reaching consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, including unprecedented financial and operational impacts, volatile municipal market conditions and the potential for a significant economic contraction...more
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) on April 2 published its statistical analysis and list of COVID-19 continuing disclosures filed by municipal issuers during the first quarter of 2020. Of 43,667 disclosures,...more
COVID-19 is creating more questions than answers in every sector of American life recent days, and the municipal bond market is no exception. Issuers and obligated persons for municipal bonds (collectively, “Obligated...more
Every continuing disclosure undertaking entered into under Section (b)(5)(i) of Rule 15c2-12 (the “Rule”) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) requires the issuer or obligated person (as defined in the Rule)...more
As state and local governments confront the financial and operating strains imposed by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, investors in the debt obligations of such governmental entities (referred to as municipal issuers) are...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