Institute Highlights
The Institute annually brings together the most experienced tax and securities lawyers in the country for the most comprehensive educational offerings available in public finance law. This year witnessed numerous proposals by members of Congress and the Obama Administration to expand federal regulation of the municipal marketplace and to reduce the tax-exempt benefit of municipal bonds to certain investors. While it is difficult to predict which of these proposals may resurface in the upcoming year, or forecast other developments in tax or securities law, the Institute’s March 2012 meeting promises to address matters of critical importance to the future of the public finance industry. Come join an outstanding faculty for some southern hospitality in the charming city of Savannah, Georgia, for this “can’t miss” event.
General Session
A highlight of the Institute will be “The Future of Public Finance”, a municipal finance market reform general session on Thursday, March 8, featuring SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter, John Cross, Associate Tax Legislative Counsel with the U.S. Department of Treasury, and George Friedlander, Managing Director and Senior Municipal Strategist for Citigroup. Commissioner Walter will discuss the latest regulatory and legislative disclosure initiatives of the SEC and Congress, while John Cross and George Friedlander will discuss the status of federal tax reform proposals generated by Congress and the U.S. Treasury. In addition to the General Session, the Institute will again offer two major tracks of instruction – one focusing on tax law and one on securities law.
Tax Track
Tax sessions will include a panel on distressed entities that will look into issues involving debt restructuring, long-term working capital and other concerns that are of relevance to issuers and conduit borrowers in the current economic environment. There will be a panel seeking to unravel the tangle of pronouncements on the subject of private business use. A panel addressing the arcane (even among 103 tax attorneys) issues surrounding tax credit bonds (QECBs, QZABs and QSCBs) will be offered. Enforcement issues, including matters affecting the VCAP process, will be the subject of another panel, where both practitioners and members of the Internal Revenue Service will be presenting their thoughts. And, of course, no public finance conference would be complete without a panel discussing arbitrage, rebate and reissuance concerns, including matters presented by direct bank placements. In order to be as current and topical as possible, a Hot Topics panel will ensure that any late breaking news in tax will be covered.
Securities Track
The Institute will explore the latest developments in the securities law area. In light of the rapid growth of direct purchase transactions involving banks and other institutional investors, the Institute will feature a panel entitled “What Should You Know About Direct Purchases?” This panel will examine the interplay among accounting, bank regulatory and securities laws and rules impacting direct purchases, analyze the distinction between “bank loans” and “municipal securities” and the consequences of such an analysis on financial advisors, placement agents, bank purchasers and issuers, and discuss the potential effect of the Volcker Rule on direct purchases. “Current Disclosure Issues in Primary Offerings” will feature regulators and practitioners who will explore updated rules promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, including changes to the MSRB registration requirements for “municipal advisors”, the current status of the SEC’s much anticipated interpretive release and its staff report on municipal markets resulting from its field hearings, and other hot securities law topics. Another session will showcase some of the finest municipal bankruptcy lawyers in the country discussing the potential impact of bankruptcy on the enforceability of bondholder covenants, rights and remedies, as illustrated by such high profile Chapter 9 cases as Vallejo, Jefferson County, Harrisburg, Sierra Kings Health Care District and Central Falls, Rhode Island. The Institute will also offer an informative perspective on the concerns and requirements of investors in the current municipal debt market in a panel entitled “Tales from the Buy Side: An Investor’s Perspective on Disclosure and Other Issues.” This panel will include representatives from some of the largest purchasers of tax-exempt bonds in the country. A session entitled “Understanding Financial Disclosure in the Current Fiscal Environment” will examine financial disclosure in an ever precarious and volatile fiscal climate. This panel will pay particular attention to disclosure regarding pensions, OPEB, budgets, interfund borrowings and other financial information. Other sessions will explore recent SEC enforcement actions in the municipal finance arena and lessons that can be learned from these SEC actions and continuing disclosure issues, including considerations of voluntary disclosure on EMMA.
Ethics Panel
Another session will examine ethical considerations in public finance with particular focus on bond counsel opinions and the role of bond counsel as gatekeeper and shall provide ethics CLE credit.
Joint Panel
A joint panel of tax and securities law attorneys will offer best practices for small and medium-sized issuers with particular focus on the adoption of a workable disclosure policy and post-issuance compliance procedures for those issuers who lack the resources, the personnel and the expertise of large municipal issuers.
Panel TopicsIn all, TSLI will cover at least 15 topics dealing with current issues of securities law, tax law and ethics. Government participants will join many of the panels, offering attendees the most up-to-date views of industry regulators.
Be sure to indicate your topic preferences on your registration form so panels can be appropriately scheduled to accommodate interest. Please note, however, that as developments warrant, panel topics shown may need to be adjusted to address current developments in the area.
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