It is to be expected that the new Congress will look for ways to facilitate private firms' ability to raise capital. The HALOS Act seems a reasonable step. One reason that the JOBS Act has not been more successful is because many of its exemptive provisions (particularly regarding qualification as an "accredited investor") have raised sufficient uncertainty, or imposed enough burdensome conditions, for market participants to be reluctant to rely on the exemptions. The HALOS Act may suffer…

There might not have been many cases brought against municipal bond issuers so far, but there have been enough to show that the SEC does not avert its eyes from governmental wrongdoing. For that reason, governmental issuers should scrutinize their offering documents as carefully as private issuers are required to do. Similarly, public officials must try diligently not to make misleading statements that could affect governmental entities' ability to raise capital.

Chair Massad began his tenure with the difficult task of trying to fix the materially flawed rule set bequeathed to him by prior Chair Gary Gensler, yet he maintained that he was merely "fine tuning" the regulatory Rolls Royce that is Dodd-Frank. Given that contradictory set of goals, Chair Massad did as well as could be expected.

With a change in administrations comes the opportunity to revisit Dodd-Frank; to determine what works and what, by considerable heft, does not. Financial…

Why is the CFPB making new appointments just before a change in administrations? The appointments seem inappropriate, since the incoming administration hasn't decided whether the head of the CFPB will remain in place. If a new bureau head is appointed, then that person should be allowed to choose his or her own staff.