The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged the city of Miami and its former budget director with fraud on Friday for allegedly making misleading statements and omissions in bond documents in order to mask general fund deficits.

The SEC, which has limited authority over America's $3.7 trillion municipal bond market, has over the last few months cracked down on issuers for failing to provide bond buyers with accurate and timely information.

The U.S. regulator said it was seeking injunctive relief and financial penalties from Miami as well as from former budget director Michael Boudreaux.

Noting that Miami was already under a cease-and-desist order for similar misconduct in 2003, the regulators said in a written statement that starting in 2008 Boudreaux had moved $37.5 million among city funds to disguise financial weaknesses from investors looking at three 2009 bond deals worth $153.5 million.