Far West

WASHINGTON — Congressional interest in municipal securities has increased significantly at a time when the issuer community does not appear to be as cohesive as it has been in the past, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s executive director said this week.

SAN FRANCISCO — A California lawmaker has called for an audit of two of the state’s largest third-party bond issuers, citing concerns about transparency, conflicts of interest and public benefit.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments are facing more scrutiny from municipal market participants, including rating agencies and underwriters, market experts warned this week.

SAN ANTONIO — Government officials are sweating the risk that they will lose the tax-exemption for muni bonds, worrying that the market for tax-credit bonds — an alternative to tax-exempts posed by some members of Congress — won’t work as well.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments should boost their continuing disclosure voluntarily or federal regulators may mandate improvements for them, a state finance director warned Saturday.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments dodged a bullet again on the 3% withholding requirement when earlier this month the Internal Revenue Service postponed its start date until 2013.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to file revised amendments to its Rule G-20 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June that will clarify proposed restrictions on gifts and gratuities for muni advisers would be virtually the same as those for broker-dealers, MSRB officials said Monday.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles County treasurer has fired a warning shot at bond attorneys, underwriters and advisers in a bid stop school bond practices that he says hurt taxpayers.

SAN FRANCISCO — Portland school district voters last week narrowly rejected a $548 million school construction bond measure — the biggest-ever attempted by a local government in Oregon.

The Internal Revenue Service has revised its Form 8038 for private-activity bonds, asking issuers now to provide more specific information about their guaranteed investment contracts and hedges.