In an opinion piece featured in the Bond Buyer, BDA CEO Mike Nicholas writes, “More than one year after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, and despite the work by the MSRB on writing a definition, virtually anyone can claim to be a municipal advisor, regardless of qualifications, political contributions or conflicts of interest. This is exactly the opposite of what Dodd-Frank intended.”
Click [here] for the full text of the piece.
BDA recently submitted comments for MSRB Priorities for FY 2013, a large focus of which was the need for a permanent definition of Municipal Advisor. Those comments are [here.]
In January, the BDA reiterated its comments to the SEC in a request for comment on MSRB Rule G-17, but also continued to encourage the SEC to finalize the definition of “municipal advisor” and regulate independent municipal advisors. See those comments [here.]
In December, a bipartisan group of House members also sent a letter to SEC Chairman Schapiro on the definition of Municipal Advisor. That letter can be found [here.]
In November, the BDA sent a letter today to SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter that highlights the role played in the municipal market by underwriters as well as urges the SEC to finalize a definition of municipal advisor. That letter can be found [here.]
