More regulation on tap for Munis?

Federal laws that exempt much of the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market from filing quarterly financial statements and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation should be repealed, Commissioner Elisse Walter said.

Walter is the third commissioner this year to call for municipal bond issuers to follow the same rules as sellers of corporate securities. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has hinted that the commission would seek expanded authority over the market sometime in 2010, and Commissioner Luis Aguilar called for greater oversight. All three have been appointed since 2008.

The Government Finance Officers Association, which represents state and local municipal officials, “strongly opposes any actions by the SEC or Congress” to give the commission “direct authority over municipal bond issuers or to directly or indirectly impose new disclosure or accounting standards,” according to a comment letter filed with the SEC in September.