– To explain the current status of the SEC’s year-old Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative, which encourages municipal securities issuers, borrowers, and underwriters to self-report possible securities law violations related to inaccurate representations in offering documents concerning an issuer’s prior continuing disclosure compliance.
– Discusses the purpose of the MCDC, recent remarks by the chief of the SEC’s Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit, the SEC’s first cease-and-desist order, and the independent consultant compliance review required by MCDC settlement terms. Recommends how an MCDC self-reporter should respond to a call from the SEC.
– Thus far, the SEC has provided little detail regarding the MCDC enforcement process. Members of the SEC enforcement staff have said that underwriter MCDC cease-and-desist orders will be announced in the “coming months” and that issuers will not be named in these enforcement actions.
– Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.
