November 19, 2010
I am writing in support of the comments submitted on this file and file S7-24-10 by the Government Finance Officers Association and other municipal securities market groups on November 15, 2010.
To summarize, the following issues are concerns to the City as an issuer of municipal securities and we oppose any attempts via these proposed rules to regulate municipal securities contrary to the provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act or the Tower Amendment:
Municipal securities should be excluded from the definition of ABS and the proposed regulatory scheme.
Municipal securities are very different financial products from ABS.
None of the requirements of the proposed Rules may be meaningfully applied to the securities of municipal issuers.
There is no evidence that Congress intended the SEC to adopt regulations pursuant to Dodd-Frank that would encompass municipal securities.
Market participants do not identify or consider municipal securities as substantially similar to ABS.
Section 941(b) of Dodd Frank directs the SEC to provide municipal securities a total or partial exemption from the ABS risk retention and disclosure provisions, as a direction that existing categories of municipal securities would not be affected by those requirements.
The proposal attempts to partially repeal the Tower Amendment.
The proposed action is inconsistent with and in direct conflict with the Subtitle H requirement of the Dodd Frank Act mandating a GAO study be completed on municipal securities disclosure which was clearly intended to provide a factual basis for consideration of these matters.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide comment on these proposed rules.