Bond Buyer on Senate's S.1117
The Bond Buyer writes "Why issuers want to undo money market mutual fund rules." They tell us, "Pending legislation that would partially roll back regulations on money market mutual funds would be good for issuers of municipal bonds, issuer groups told a Senate panel Tuesday. The Government Finance Officers Association and National Association of Health and Educational Facilities Finance Authorities both provided testimony in support of S.1117: The Consumer Financial Choice and Capital Markets Protection Act of 2017. The bill, introduced more than a year ago by Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would allow institutional money market funds to return to a fixed net asset value after a 2014 SEC rule change required those MMFs to use a floating NAV." The piece adds, "Christopher Daniel, chief investment officer of Albuquerque, New Mexico, testified for the GFOA Tuesday, telling members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs that most local governments have policies or even state or local laws on the books requiring them to invest only in funds with a stable NAV. This is to ensure that public money is properly safeguarded, he said. With the effectiveness of the SEC's floating NAV requirement, Daniel said, local governments have been forced to use lower-yielding funds investing in U.S. government securities." (Watch for more comments on this topic from Federated Investors CEO Chris Donahue from this week's Money Fund Symposium in coming days.)
