Client Alert
On September 30, 2015, in the second round of settlements with underwriters under its Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued cease-and-desist orders to 22 underwriting firms. The orders are in response to voluntary self-reporting of potential misrepresentations in municipal bond offering documents regarding compliance by issuers with prior continuing disclosure obligations. The MCDC initiative offered underwriters and issuers the opportunity to self-report potential violations during the past five years in exchange for more lenient settlements than would otherwise be available for violations which were not self-reported.