Far West

WASHINGTON — Just four days after being appointed to spearhead the creation of the new consumer bureau, Elizabeth Warren has hit the ground running.

WASHINGTON — James T. Kelly, a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge who presided over several municipal bond enforcement cases, plans to retire later this month after 42 years of public service, with more than 11 spent at the SEC, the commission announced Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO — An analyst painted a grim picture of the state of disclosure in the municipal bond market, after Securities and Exchange Commissioner Elisse Walter Tuesday kicked off the SEC’s first regional municipal securities field hearing here.

SAN FRANCISCO — Alaskans will vote on about $1 billion in bonding authority during the November election in an effort by lawmakers to fund school construction and home loans for military veterans.

SAN FRANCISCO — Bell, Calif.’s mayor, former city manager, and current and former City Council members have been arrested on charges of misappropriating more than $5.5 million from city coffers, according to the Los Angeles district attorney.

A national infrastructure bank could complement an extended Build America Bonds program, but no detailed proposal for the bank is ready to be unveiled soon by the Obama administration, officials told the Senate Banking Committee ­Tuesday.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Fitch Ratings washed its hands of the troubled Bell, Calif, on Monday, withdrawing its ratings after issuing a final downgrade to the city’s already junk-rated debt.

WASHINGTON — Mega muni investor Peter Kuhn is bullish on muni bonds, but says investors should be very careful about what they buy and issuers should provide more timely and informative secondary market information.

Rep. Jim McDermott has introduced legislation that would allow for an unlimited amount of clean renewable energy bonds to be issued through 2013, but would revoke the ability of state and local governmental entities to issue them, leaving only public power providers, electric cooperatives, and tribal utilities as CREBs issuers.

SAN FRANCISCO — On the eve of its first field hearing on the municipal securities market here, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an “investor bulletin” highlighting the key characteristics and risks of munis, while two self-regulators jointly released a notice reminding dealers of their obligations to investors while selling them munis in the secondary market.