Recently, FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams announced that bank regulators will release a joint draft proposal for reform measures to the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The regulators are expected to release a formal proposal on or around August/September 2019. The BDA has identified an issue related to certain community development activities concerning investments in loan-backed securities that…
Author: Bond Dealers of America
RECAP: BDA Fixed Income Market Structure Working Group Fly-in
Monday, June 17, 2019, several members of BDA’s Fixed Income Market Structure Working Group attended a Washington, D.C. fly-in focused on fixed income market disintermediation, business conditions, and specific regulatory issues impacting middle-market and regional broker-dealers. Meetings included SEC Chairman Jay Clayton, FINRA CEO Robert Cook, and MSRB President and CEO Lynnette Kelly, as well as…
BDA Submits Comment Letter on TRACE pilot/corporate bond block trade dissemination
Thank you to those who participated in BDA’s calls regarding FINRA’s proposal (Notice 19-12) to implement a pilot program to test changes in TRACE dissemination rules on corporate bond market liquidity. The final BDA comment letter is available here. Summary of BDA’s comment letter: BDA opposes the pilot program proposal. The proposed 48-hour delay in…
Event Recap: BDA Fixed Income Legal & Compliance Roundtable
On Thursday, June 6th, the BDA held its summer Fixed Income Legal & Compliance Roundtable in Washington, DC. Over 20 attendees participated in this year’s event at which BDA member firms discussed current regulatory and compliance topics, shared regulatory examination experiences, and networked at dinner. We also heard directly from senior staff at the MSRB,…
BDA Comment Letter: MSRB Request for Comment on Rule G-34 Obligation of Municipal Advisors to Apply for CUSIP Numbers When Advising on Competitive Sales
After consultation with various members and committees, the BDA has submitted a response to the recent the MSRB request for comment on MSRB Rule G-34 ,the “CUSIP Requirement”, which requires a municipal advisor advising an issuer with respect to a competitive sale of a new issue of municipal securities to apply for the assignment of a…
BDA’s 1st Quarter Advocacy Priorities
April 2019 Regulatory Advocacy Issues MSRB Rule on Activities of Financial Advisors MSRB Rule G-23 establishes requirements applicable to a broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer acting as a financial advisor with respect to the issuance of municipal securities. Rule G-23 prohibits a broker-dealer firm that also provides financial advisory services from serving as…
Legislation to Restore Tax-Exempt Advance Refundings Introduced
The House Municipal Finance Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) have introduced legislation with 10 co-sponsors, that would fully reinstate tax-exempt advance refundings. Since their elimination in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, reinstatement of tax-exempt advance refundings has been a top priority of the BDA. Working with our partners on Capitol…
BDA Presses for Revision / Possible Repeal of MSRB Rule G23
Bond Buyer Op-Ed 5/16/2019 Time for a fresh look at Rule G-23 – Benefiting municipal issuers, taxpayers The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board earlier this year announced that as part of its ongoing retrospective rule review, they are examining MSRB Rule G-23, “Activities of Financial Advisors.” The purpose of the initiative is “to ensure MSRB rules…
Recap: Retail Fixed Income Roundtable – Hosted in St. Louis by Wells Fargo Advisors
On May 9th, the BDA held its annual Fixed Income Retail Roundtable in St. Louis, Missouri. The event included a networking reception and dinner at Vin de Set sponsored by DPC Data on the evening of Wednesday, May 8th. The roundtable was hosted by Wells Fargo Advisors and was attended by over 35 retail fixed-income…
Recap: BDA’s Annual Sales Manager Roundtable
On Thursday, April 25th the BDA held its annual Fixed Income Sales Manager Roundtable, hosted by FTN Financial in Memphis, Tennessee. The event was attended by sales managers and fixed-income leaders from middle-market firms nationwide and there was an active discussion of the biggest sales-related issues facing middle-market broker-dealers in the fixed-income markets. The roundtable…