WASHINGTON -- The Pittsburgh banker who was recently named chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is staunchly defending its role limiting political contributions by bond dealers.
Robert H. Drysdale, president and chief executive officer of PNC Securities Corp., a unit of PNC Bank Corp., said he believes the municipal bond business is "very clean."
But he added that he has "seen enough problems all over the country" to justify the rule, which took effect last April.
The measure, known as Rule G-37, bars municipal dealers that make political contributions to bond issuers who are their clients from doing business with those clients for two years afterward.
Mr. Drysdale, who has been a member of the 15-member rolemaking board for two years, said the rule was adopted "because here were a number of us that felt that you really should get away from paying money to receive a deal, to get a bond issue."
If political contributions are "perceived as somehow skewed or crooked, the general public will have less confidence in the market, and that impinges on the credibility of the market," Mr. Drysdale added.
He predicted widespread compliance with the rule. "I know there's some grumbling about the reporting requirements. But I think that virtually all of the quality dealers, large and small ... are adhering to this rule and intend to adhere to it," he said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr. Drysdale also said securities firms will face increasing pressure to settle transactions more quickly. And he called-on securities firms to endorse a proposal by the rulemaking board to require certain broker-dealer employees to. undergo ongoing educational and training programs.
Mr. Drysdale, 49, has been in the municipal bond business for more than 20 years. A fourth-generation Southern Californian, he has been at PNC Securities for six years.
Before that, he was president and chief executive of Jesup & Lamont Securities Group, New York. He was president and chief operating officer at Tucker, Anthony & R.L. Day Inc. prior to that.
He also held a number of sales, trading, and public finance positions at Blyth Eastman Dillon in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, and at Security Pacific National Bank in Los Angeles.
Ms. Hume writes for the Bond Buyer, a sister publication of the American Banker.
