|  | | 2012 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
SEC Poised To Release Muni Blueprint
Andrew Ackerman And Kelly Nolan
The Wall Street Journal. July 19, 2012
_________________________________________________________________________
EXCERPT: The Securities and Exchange Commission is poised to release a lengthy blueprint outlining improvements to the $3.7 trillion market for bonds issued by states and localities, including regulatory and legislative proposals designed to increase transparency in the relatively opaque market. The sweeping report has been in the works for more than two years, and the agency expects to release it by the end of next week, people familiar with the matter said. The report is expected to call for corporate-style disclosures of so-called conduit borrowers--or corporate entities that borrow money through a tax-exempt issuer--as well as a requirement that muni issuers follow uniform accounting standards set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
It also will include recommendations for improving the transparency of bond prices in the massive market, in which the bonds of its more than 50,000 borrowers are often infrequently traded and a best price is difficult to determine. The SEC's five-member commission is still debating the specific pricing recommendations, two people said. It is unlikely that any of the legislative proposals in the blueprint will gain traction in the current Congress. SEC officials have said the recommendations would include a repeal of certain exemptions to securities laws for municipal borrowers that would allow the SEC to impose specific disclosures to investors.
|
|
|
