Andrew Ackerman

WASHINGTON — California is not the first municipal issuer to prohibit underwriters from passing along industry trade-group fees to taxpayers through bond transactions.

WASHINGTON — Rating analysts are closely watching to see if states make structural changes in their finances to avoid their current fiscal problems as opposed to making one-time fixes that will not solve their underlying imbalances, a Standard & Poor’s analyst said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that investors can for the first time access detailed information that money market funds file with the SEC under changes to Rule 2a-7 that it implemented last year.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is exploring state public pension laws to see if there are common types of disclosures they could encourage issuers to submit to its Electronic Municipal Market Access site, MSRB officials told reporters Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is exploring state public pension laws to see if there are common types of disclosures they could encourage issuers to submit to its Electronic Municipal Market Access site, MSRB officials told reporters Monday.

WASHINGTON — Amid widespread concern about the viability of public sector pension plans, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is weighing whether it should help issuers disclose more about their pension plans and liabilities.

An employment index used to track overall labor costs rose 0.4% for the final three months of 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, matching the growth rate recorded in the previous quarter, according to a report the Bureau of Labor Statistics released this morning.

An employment index used to track overall labor costs rose 0.4% for the final three months of 2010, after increasing at a seasonally unadjusted 0.4% rate during the third quarter of 2010, according to a report the Bureau of Labor Statistics released this morning.

WASHINGTON — Durable goods orders unexpectedly declined in December, dropping 2.5% to $191 billion, as orders for big-ticket nonmilitary aircraft sharply decreased, the Commerce Department reported Thursday morning.

WASHINGTON – Durable goods orders unexpectedly declined in December, dropping 2.5% to $191.0 billion, as orders for big-ticket nondefense aircraft sharply decreased, the Commerce Department reported Thursday morning.

WASHINGTON — Muni advisory issues will continue to dominate the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board at its packed three-day meeting Wednesday through Friday in San Diego.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act faces a “serious threat” and “potential undoing” ­under Republican-proposed spending cuts, House Democrats warned Tuesday.

State officials on Friday angrily denounced reports that senators may be quietly developing a proposal to allow states facing fiscal crises to seek protection in federal bankruptcy court so that a judge could alter their obligations, including outstanding debt levels.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Friday that it has tapped John Petersen to serve as a public representative on its 21-member board.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission approved two sets of rules for asset-backed securities Thursday, including one that would apply to certain municipal securities in early 2015.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to vote on two sets of rules for asset-backed securities Thursday morning, including one that would apply to certain municipal securities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board held an informal roundtable with market groups late last week and is planning another one in September as well as two teleconferences, leading some to compare the discussions to the former Muni Council.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $500,000 for failing to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures to ensure that its representatives considered customers’ state income-tax benefits in their suitability analyses of 529 college saving plans.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined TD Ameritrade Inc., Scottrade Inc., and Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC $35,000 each for failing to disclose the underlying ratings of insured bonds, which it said constituted material information that customers purchasing the bonds needed to know.

WASHINGTON — Voluntary contributions from states and localities, one of two key revenue streams for the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, have dropped precipitously in recent years as localities cut back on funds.