Far West

DALLAS — Bond dealers who claim the role of market maker in the pricing of municipal securities can run afoul of regulators unless they qualify with the Securities and Exchange Commission, warned Malcolm Northam, director of fixed-income ­securities at the Financial Industry ­Regulatory Authority.

Congress last week approved a three-month extension of aviation and airport programs that will allow airports to continue to collect the taxes that they use to pay for capital improvements.

WASHINGTON — Independent municipal advisers are strongly opposed to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s draft proposal that would temporarily expand the board’s membership to 21 while reserving just three, or 14%, of those slots for advisers that will fall under its oversight Friday for the first time.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are expected to take up a stopgap spending measure to continue funding federal agencies after Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, before they break to campaign for the November elections.

WASHINGTON — Crumbling infrastructure may inhibit an economic recovery, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Thursday in a report that relies on a newly created index that measures transportation performance and ties it to the economy.

SAN FRANCISCO — Voters in Oregon in November will consider a proposition that, if approved, would allow the state to issue more general obligation bonds in order to save on borrowing costs.

WASHINGTON — A public power provider can issue tax-exempt bonds to finance a wind facility even if it sells renewable energy certificates to private parties, the Internal Revenue Service has ruled.

WASHINGTON — An issuer official and former head of a governmental group strongly refuted the Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims that disclosure and accounting standards for the municipal bond market are lacking and said the SEC simply doesn’t understand the market.

SAN FRANCISCO — The municipal bond market does a poor job providing retail buyers with necessary information, a worse job providing them with continuing disclosure about their investments, and is an awful place to sell those investments.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The city of Bell mismanaged general obligation bond funds, illegally increased taxes and fees, and engaged in numerous practices that suggest possible intentional abuse and misuse of city funds, according to an audit the California controller’s office released Wednesday.