SEC Plans To Act on Many Muni Report Recommendations

The Bond Buyer reports:

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to take action on many of the recommendations in its 2012 municipal market report as well as strengthen its oversight of municipal advisors, according to its draft strategic plan released Monday.

The 42-page document lays out the SEC's "mission, vision, values, and strategic goals" for fiscal years 2014 through 2018. Among the topics covered is the nearly two year-old comprehensive muni market report, which was written after a lengthy examination of the market spearheaded by then-commissioner Elisse Walter. That 165-page report recommended a number of both legislative and regulatory changes that Congress and the SEC could make to strengthen transparency in the market.

Among the recommendations for the SEC and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board were to require muni dealers to disclose to customers markups and markdowns of riskless principal transactions, and to encourage the use of alternative trading systems.

No word yet on whether the SEC will comment on the "kinky" accounting done by some of America's biggest cities.