Far West

WASHINGTON — The Government Finance Officers Association is asking the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to more clearly explain the importance of its proposal to nearly double the transaction fees it collects from dealers in order to pay for its development of its EMMA system as well as its new oversight of municipal advisers.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Jose, Calif., has been forced to piece together bank backing for short-term notes that have helped pay for a more than $1 billion airport terminal.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The war between California’s state and local governments over money is probably not over — and may be exacerbated by the grim budget picture painted this week by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department should permanently apply existing regulations on issue price to all tax-exempt and direct-pay bonds, while clarifying several aspects of the rules, according to the American Bar Association’s taxation section.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission should rein in the American Bankers Association’s CUSIP Service Bureau and prevent it from charging market participants unreasonable and unwarranted fees, according to three trade groups.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is warning the incoming Republican governors of two Midwestern states that unless they use certain grant funding for high-speed rail projects, they will lose the funds entirely.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office just raised the price tag for solving the state’s persistent budget deficits.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is inching closer to becoming a bond issuer and could offer its first deal as early as next year.

President Obama’s bipartisan fiscal reform commission cited a tax-reform bill that would eliminate tax-exempt bonds and replace them with tax-credit bonds as a potential way forward when it comes to simplifying the tax code and reducing the federal deficit, according to a draft proposal released Wednesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Goldman, Sachs & Co. $650,000 for failing to disclose that two of its registered representatives, including Fabrice Tourre, received “Wells Notices” from the Securities and Exchange ­Commission.