Far West

Rebecca Olsen, deputy director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s office of municipal securities, has concerns about municipal advisor misconceptions she has heard about who can advise in the municipal market and who can be considered an independent registered municipal advisor.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Municipal Securities is weighing whether to provide legal interpretive guidance to help municipal advisors determine if they are acting as an adviser or broker-dealer when working with an issuer on a bank loan.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel warned Thursday that Congress and the Executive Branch should not hurt two federal loan programs for infrastructure: the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act and the Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing programs.

Sacramento County’s slow progress in building up its reserves could spell trouble for California’s most bond-indebted county.

Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi, D-P.R., has introduced a bill that would authorize the Treasury Department to guarantee future bonds issued by Puerto Rico and its authorities if it finds they have meaningfully improved the management of their finances.

Ratings analysts cited Nevada’s tax reform efforts in affirming double-A-level ratings ahead of $345 million general obligation limited tax bond sale.

Lewis Feldman, the founding chair of Goodwin Procter’s Los Angeles office, has left the national law firm to run a firm that advises and invests in crowdfunding platforms.

California plans to price $446 million in veterans’ general obligation bonds on Oct. 7 and 8 in a combined refunding/new money sale so it can offer more home loans to veterans.

Royal Dutch Shell's decision to walk away from its unsuccessful drilling efforts in the Alaskan Arctic is credit negative for Alaska, Moody's Investors Service said Monday.

Many public agencies in California do not have an internal control system to manage their bond funds, according to a draft report for a task force commissioned by State Treasurer John Chiang.