The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has already entered into settlements with 72 underwriters as part of the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative. The SEC now has started to contact issuers who may have made an MCDC filing and then will contact issuers who did not make an MCDC filing but may have been included in an underwriters' MCDC filing. The attached Alert from the Government Finance Officers Association is informative and we strongly urge you review it. Contact with the issuer is made by the SEC's enforcement division, which means anything you say can be used against you and the public body. Consequently, if you are contacted by the SEC by telephone regarding MCDC, you should listen closely, take notes, ask for specifics if appropriate, but do not feel compelled to provide any substantive responses until a complete review of the Issuer's history is made. We suggest you let the SEC representative know you appreciate their call, ask for their contact information, and let the staff member know that you or legal counsel will return the call. It also may be advisable to ask for an extension.
You should contact Legal Counsel immediately.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
About Ahlers & Cooney's Client Alerts
Our Client Alerts are intended to provide occasional general comments on new developments in Federal and State law and regulations which we believe might be of interest to our clients. The Client Alerts should not be considered opinions of Ahlers & Cooney, P.C., and are not intended to provide legal advice as a substitute for seeking professional counsel. Readers should not under any circumstance act upon the information in this publication without seeking specific professional counsel. Ahlers & Cooney will be pleased to provide additional details regarding any article upon request. Additional copies of this Client Alert may be obtained by contacting any attorney in the Firm or by visiting the Firm's website at www.ahlerslaw.com.
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Public Finance Group, Ahlers & Cooney, P.C.