SEC delays municipal adviser rule compliance date

Compliance with the SEC’s final municipal adviser registration rules will not be required until July 1, 2014, the commission announced Monday.

The SEC extended the date for compliance to give market participants additional time to analyze, implement, and comply with the final rules. The rules had been scheduled to go into effect Monday.

As required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, P.L. 111-203, the SEC adopted the final rules last year. The rules require municipal advisers to register with the SEC if they provide advice to municipal entities or certain other persons on the issuance of municipal securities or about certain investment strategies or municipal derivatives.

Many CPA services are excluded from the activities that would require registration. CPAs will not be required to register as municipal advisers if they are providing audit or attest services, preparing financial statements, or issuing letters for underwriters.

CPAs and others who provide certain other advice to municipalities—including tax advice on municipal securities offerings—will be required to register with the SEC as municipal advisers, under the new rules.

—Ken Tysiac (ktysiac@aicpa.org) is a JofA senior editor.