Far West

Moody's Investors Service said in a note Monday that California should be able to handle the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars from a depressed Facebook stock price.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Mark Mazur late Thursday by a voice vote to serve as the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for tax policy.

The threats to the tax-exemption are the greatest they have ever been primarily due to the level of federal deficit reduction that Congress needs to tackle, several municipal bond market experts said at the annual Council of Development Finance Agencies conference.

A bipartisan Senate package to revive dozens of expiring or expired tax breaks, including several muni provisions, would cost $205.1 billion over 10 years, according to an analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation.

John Cross, the associate tax legislative counsel in the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, is to become director of the SEC's new Office of Municipal Securities in September.

MSRB has sent a two-page letter to nine organizations requesting a meeting.

A diverse group of municipal market participants has criticized the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's recent concept release related to third-party payments.

The recent bankruptcy filings of Stockton and San Bernardino share a common element — both troubled California cities target pension obligations bondholders for sizable haircuts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named John J. Cross, 3rd, the head of its Office of Municipal Securities.

California has confirmed the state is set to sell $10 billion of revenue anticipation notes during the week of Aug. 13.