Tag: Municipal Advisors

SEC’s Municipal Advisor Exam Initiative

sec-seal

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new examination initiative directed at newly regulated municipal advisors. The examinations are designed to establish a “presence” with the newly regulated municipal advisors.

We’ve seen this blueprint before. It looks a lot like the presence exam initiative for newly registered private fund managers and the never before examined initiative for unexamined advisers. The SEC is trying to knock on as many doors as they can.

The SEC is working with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to facilitate a coordinated approach to oversight of municipal advisors. SEC’s OCIE will examine municipal advisors for compliance with applicable SEC rules and applicable final MSRB rules once the MSRB rules are approved by the SEC and become effective.

Section 975 of Dodd-Frank added a new requirement that “municipal advisers” register with the SEC. Municipal Advisor is defined in 15 U.S.C. 78o-4(e)(4)(E)(4) as:

(A) means a person (who is not a municipal entity or an employee of a municipal entity) that—

(i) provides advice to or on behalf of a municipal entity or obligated person with respect to municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities, including advice with respect to the structure, timing, terms, and other similar matters concerning such financial products or issues; or

(ii) undertakes a solicitation of a municipal entity;

(B) includes financial advisors, guaranteed investment contract brokers, third-party marketers, placement agents, solicitors, finders, and swap advisors, if such persons are described in any of clauses (i) through (iii) 5 of subparagraph (A); and

(C) does not include a broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer serving as an underwriter (as defined in section 77b(a)(11) of this title), any investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 [15 U.S.C. 80b–1 et seq.], or persons associated with such investment advisers who are providing investment advice, any commodity trading advisor registered under the Commodity Exchange Act [7 U.S.C. 1 et seq.] or persons associated with a commodity trading advisor who are providing advice related to swaps, attorneys offering legal advice or providing services that are of a traditional legal nature, or engineers providing engineering advice;

Starting later this year, OCIE in coordination with FINRA and the MSRB will hold a Compliance Outreach Program for newly regulated municipal advisors where they will learn more about the examination process and their obligations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and related rules.

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Placement Agent Limitations on Gifts

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is continuing to tighten the limits on what placement agents can do as part of their fundraising activities for private funds.  Dodd-Frank created a new category of “municipal advisors” and placed them under the regulatory oversight of the MSRB. If your fund uses a placement agent and has government-sponsored investors or is seeking government-sponsored investors then they need to be registered with the MSRB and you need to pay attention to these rules.

The MSRB is proposing a new limitation in Rule G-20:

(a) General Limitation on Value of Gifts and Gratuities.

(ii) Municipal advisors.  No municipal advisor shall, directly or indirectly, give or permit to be given any thing or service of value, including gratuities, in excess of $100 per year to a person other than an employee or partner of such municipal advisor, if such payments or services are in relation to the municipal advisory activities of (including but not limited to solicitation of potential engagements on behalf of) the municipal advisor.

(b) Normal Business Dealings. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of section (a) of this rule shall not be deemed to prohibit occasional gifts of meals or tickets to theatrical, sporting, and other entertainments hosted by the broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, or municipal advisor; the sponsoring by the broker, dealer, municipal securities dealer, or municipal advisor of legitimate business functions that are recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as deductible business expenses; or gifts of reminder advertising; provided, that such gifts shall not be so frequent or so extensive as to raise any question of propriety.

Amendments to Rule G-8 and Rule G-9 would require a municipal advisor to keep a record of each gift or gratuity given and keep those records for six years.

Even though the MSRB is seeking comments on the proposed changes, I’m skeptical they will be changed. They are merely taking the existing limitations for municipal securities dealers and porting them over to the new class of municipal advisors.

From the fund managers perspective, it would make sense to make sure that your placement agent is complying with the rules and to get copies of their records.

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Pay to Play Rules for Placement Agents

The SEC imposed strict limitations on the ability of investment advisers to make political contributions when their clients include government bodies when it issued Rule 206(4)-5. They don’t want government investment decisions decided campaign contributions. This limitation also applies to private investment funds under the language of the rule and the changes to the Investment Advisers Act made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The SEC carried this limitation over to placement agents used by investment advisers. The placement agent needs to be subject to similar limitations. That means the placement agent would need to be a registered investment adviser or otherwise regulated. At first the SEC expected FINRA to create a new rule to govern pay-to play. Instead, Section 975 of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act created a new category of regulated persons called a “municipal adviser.” This new category will regulated by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The MSRB has issued a proposed draft of new Rule G-42 that would limit a placement agent’s ability to make political contributions.

One major difference between this draft of Rule G-42 and SEC Rule 206(4)-5 is the definition of de minimis political contribution. The SEC allows a contribution of $350 per election cycle for candidate you can vote for or $150 for a candidate you can’t vote for. The MSRB definition would be $250 for candidate that you can vote for.

Violating the rule means you are banned from

  • engaging in municipal advisory business with a municipal entity for compensation,
  • soliciting third-party business from a municipal entity for compensation, or
  • receiving compensation for the solicitation of third-party business from a municipal entity,

for two years after any contribution to an official of such municipal entity in excess of the de minimis amount.

Proposed Rule G-42 for municipal advisers is similar to Rule G-37 for those in the municipal securities business. I expect that comments will argue that the de minimis amount should match up with the SEC’s de minimis amount.

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