Far West

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a proposal to revamp the money-market fund industry "in very short order," chairman Mary Schapiro said Monday.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is auditing the tax-exempt bonds in a number of conduit deals where the borrowers entered into total return swaps and is questioning whether the bonds may be taxable because of arbitrage rule violations, market participants said Monday.

LOS ANGELES - The University of California, Los Angeles, plans to build a $152 million on-campus hotel and conference center to be funded by a $40 million donation and $112 million of bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Memphis-based Morgan Keegan & Co. has hired Rob Larkins as a managing director to head up the firm's new public finance office in San Francisco.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board unveiled an online toolkit for muni issuers Monday, telling state and local governments that underwriters, unlike muni advisors, do not have a fiduciary duty to issuer clients.

Regulatory priorities for the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service this year and next include proposing guidance for Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds, according to plans they recently released.

WASHINGTON - Dealer groups and market participants criticized the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's draft rule on broker's brokers last week, saying it would undermine, not improve, secondary market liquidity.

SAN FRANCISCO - Moody's Investors Service downgraded Wenatchee, Wash.'s general obligation ratings three notches due to concerns over city-backed debt issued to pay for a struggling arena.

WASHINGTON - The Senate failed to move forward on Thursday with either of the separate infrastructure jobs bills proposed by Democrats and Republicans.

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Jose Redevelopment Agency has received an extension on letters of credit from JPMorgan on $95 million of variable-rate debt, avoiding the threat of a default this month.