The Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on July 31,
2012 issued a comprehensive report with recommendations to improve
the municipal securities market and enhance disclosure provided to
investors. The report follows an extensive review of the municipal
securities market that began in 2010 and involved field hearings,
meetings between the SEC and market participants and public
comments. Although the report does not change existing law, the
report recommends certain legislative changes, potential rulemaking
by the SEC or the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), and
enhancements to best practices.
In the report, the SEC recognizes the current limits to its
statutory authority and identifies at least five significant
proposals that would require authorization from Congress. First,
the SEC proposes it be authorized to require municipal issuers to
prepare disclosure pursuant to certain minimum disclosure
standards. However, this would not entail
