(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday said it had charged Oppenheimer & Co, BNY Mellon (NYSE:BK), TD Securities and Jefferies, with failing to comply with municipal bond offering disclosure requirements.
The agency has filed litigation against Oppenheimer, while the other three brokers agreed to settle. The charges are the first brought by the SEC under a new municipal bond disclosure law. The agency said the four brokers sold new issue municipal bonds without obtaining required disclosures for investors.
Each of the firms purported to rely on an exemption to the typical disclosure requirements called the limited offering exemption, but they did not take the steps necessary to satisfy the exemption’s criteria, the SEC said.
BNY, TD and Jefferies together will pay around $1.25 million in penalties and disgorgement.