Far West

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Schapiro told House members Tuesday that her agency is pursuing a number of municipal securities investigations across the country.

SAN FRANCISCO — An independent auditor says Victorville is nearing insolvency.The California city’s auditor, Mayer Hoffman McCann PC, noted the shuffling of tens of millions of dollars of bond proceeds between different agencies without proper approval.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — With the fate of California redevelopment agencies still unknown, the agencies are rushing deals to market at an accelerated pace — and appear to be paying a steep price for it.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined nine firms a total of $129,500 for violations of muni trade reporting, pricing, book-keeping, record-keeping, and supervisory rules.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on Tuesday unveiled legislation for a national infrastructure bank that could finance up to $10 billion of projects in each of its first two years.

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board data for recent years shows a steep decline in municipal bond trading by dollar volume but an increase in the overall number of trades.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Las Vegas Monorail Co. bondholder Eaton Vance has broken with other large holders of the bankrupt project’s debt to challenge the settlement that trustee Wells Fargo Bank NA negotiated with Wisconsin state regulators to commute the monorail’s bond insurance policy.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced late Friday that it is opening up the $2.4 billion of federal high-speed rail money that was rejected by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to a competitive bidding process for states willing to take on new projects.

WASHINGTON — A House oversight panel will hold a second hearing on fiscal problems faced by state and local governments Tuesday, with witnesses from two major rating agencies.

WASHINGTON — A report on the Securities and Exchange Commission filed with Congress Thursday questioned the wisdom of creating an independent municipal securities office that would report directly to the chairman.