Far West

Large financial firms can expect continued scrutiny for risk management, internal controls and governance, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said in New York.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has released a paper on best practices in disclosure for bank loans, an opaque segment of the municipal debt market that is getting increased attention from regulators.

A California lawmaker introduced a bill that would add language to school district bonds that would protect investors in the event of bankruptcy.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is likely to propose requiring alternative trading systems to report quotation information on municipal securities to it in the future, industry officials said after listening to speakers on a federal regulatory update panel at a conference here on Monday afternoon.

The dialogue over tax reform provides an opening for state and local governments to educate members of Congress and their staff about municipal bonds, how they work and what they do.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is asking the Internal Revenue Service to modify or withdraw a memorandum about defeasances of Build America Bonds.

Alaska plans to issue $163 million of bond anticipation notes and $95 million of general obligation bonds later this month.

Standard & Poor's raised several Stockton, Calif. water system bond ratings

The Internal Revenue Service is asserting that $25.42 million of bonds, which were issued by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority in 2005 and benefit the Sweetwater Union High School District, are taxable private-activity bonds.

Moody's Investors Service ratings will be available on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA website later this year, ending the rating agency's long holdout from the site.