Far West

RBC Capital Markets LLC will pay $30.4 million to settle charges filed Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the firm of misconduct for its role in the sale of unsuitably risky investment products to five Wisconsin school districts.

The fiscal condition of cities is continuing to weaken in 2011 and isn't likely to improve in 2012, the National League of Cities concluded in a report released Tuesday.

While state cutbacks to education funding in California have stressed the Los Angeles Unified School District's operating budget, resulting in the layoff of 1,900 teachers, they have not hampered its building program.

NEW YORK - The Internal Revenue Service is planning to begin full-blown audits of advance refunding bonds and focused audits of tax and revenue anticipation notes and multifamily housing bonds, an IRS official said at a seminar here Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO - Vallejo, Calif., hasn't quite wiggled out of bankruptcy, nearly two months after getting a judge's approval for its exit plan.

House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., has been given the go-ahead by leadership to include $15 billion more for transportation programs in his multi-year bill, if he can find the revenue, sources said.

With support from the president, members of both parties in both houses of Congress, think tanks and financial institutions, creation of a national infrastructure bank might seem like a slam dunk.

WASHINGTON - Underwriters may need to withdraw from a competitive transaction if they uncover inaccurate disclosure and the issuer cannot resolve their concerns, a dealer group said in guidance released last week.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors approved plans last Thursday to issue $250 million of bonds.

WASHINGTON - States' unfunded liabilities for health care and other non-pension post-employment benefits totaled $545 billion in fiscal 2010, Standard & Poor's said in a report issued Thursday.