Initiatives

Municipal Securities Regulation and Enforcement

The $3.7 trillion municipal bond market, the lifeblood of state and local infrastructure projects, is attracting the growing scrutiny of federal regulators. Local governments, financial and trading intermediaries, municipal advisers, and broker-dealers face increased demands for accountability and disclosure—and swift sanctions for noncompliance.

We help municipal market participants navigate a rapidly evolving regulatory, investigative, and enforcement environment, enabling them to anticipate and address compliance issues and respond effectively to investigations when necessary. As recent enforcement cases show, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its Public Financial Abuse Unit have focused on the following areas: offering and disclosure fraud, tax and arbitrage-driven fraud, pay-to-play and public corruption violations, public pension accounting and disclosure violations, and valuation and pricing fraud.

Our attorneys provide representation in proceedings involving the SEC, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and state securities commissions. Clients count on us to assist in a diverse range of circumstances, including:

Responding to investigations and enforcement actions by market regulators
Defending against litigation stemming from municipal securities issuance, including alleged securities law violations
Strengthening public pension accounting and disclosure policies
Establishing effective disclosure compliance policies and procedures
Commenting on proposed regulation changes

Our team combines the strength of one of the country’s premier public finance practices with skilled attorneys in our securities, securities litigation, and white collar defense/internal investigations practices. For more than six decades, our public finance attorneys have participated in the issuance of more than $1 trillion of tax-exempt obligations in all states, the District of Columbia, and American territories.

Our longstanding relationships with municipal governments and authorities, investment banks, financial advisers, banking institutions, and investors give our attorneys a thorough understanding of the market. We are familiar with federal, state, and local laws concerning the issuance of municipal securities, and we can advise clients on municipal securities compliance and enforcement and regulatory challenges.

With a significant national presence, our Securities Group advises issuers, borrowers, investment banking firms, and lenders in a broad range of public offerings, private placements, and direct purchases of municipal securities. Our group includes attorneys who have previously served as SEC staff members, including the former Assistant Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance as well as the former acting director of the SEC Office of Municipal Securities and Chief Legal Officer and Deputy Executive Director at the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. This experience enables us to guide clients through the regulatory requirements and exemptions of federal and state securities laws.

Our litigators, who include former federal prosecutors, have extensive experience representing clients in both civil and criminal cases related to the municipal securities market. Our litigators regularly guide our clients through the government enforcement process, representing clients through the investigative stage, conducting internal investigations when appropriate, and negotiating with the government for resolution of the government’s investigation. When a favorable resolution is not possible during the investigative stage, our litigators have substantial experience representing clients before state and federal courts and in regulatory proceedings.