John Hemmerdinger of The Bond Buyer reports on resistance to House legislation that would “let big banks and swap dealers escape Dodd-Frank’s fiduciary duty provision,” relieving them of any duty to “put clients’ interests ahead of their own.”

The Municipal Advisor Oversight Improvement Act, introduced by Representative Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), would “turn us back to a time when underwriters, or anyone, could act as a financial advisor without having a corresponding … fiduciary duty,” the article quotes Nathan Howard, an attorney with Kodner Watkins & Kloecker, as saying. Howard, one of the participants in a March 4 AFR teleconference, represents the National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors, although he was not speaking for the group.

In the teleconference, AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley said the Stivers bill would give a “blanket exemption” to those “at the center” of recent market abuses. “We need to see the SEC finalizing a rule that requires a fiduciary duty for any advice given to a municipal entity … regardless of who gives [it],” Stanley said.