Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — Fitch Ratings downgraded $3.4 billion of Los Angeles debt because policymakers in the second-biggest U.S. city have failed to balance its budget and plan to drain its reserves.

WASHINGTON — Swap dealers that pitch to, advise, or enter into swap agreements with states, localities, and public pension funds would have a “fiduciary duty” to put the interests of those entities first, under legislation released Friday afternoon by Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Blanche Lincoln.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s board approved an electricity rate increase, accepting a smaller-than-requested hike to end a standoff with the Los Angeles City Council.

SAN FRANCISCO — San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders proposed a $1.1 billion fiscal 2011 general fund budget that would close a $28.2 million deficit.

Clean water state revolving funds may increasingly be used to purchase land due to the Obama administration’s focus on “green” or alternative infrastructure investments, market participants said Friday as the president launched a major conservation initiative.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York attorney general reached settlement agreements with investment adviser Quadrangle Group LLC and others for allegedly engaging in pay-to-play practices with state officials and their consultants to obtain investment business from New York’s pension fund.

The new federal health care law will likely mean less revenue for nonprofit hospitals in the long run, Moody’s Investors Service warned in a report out this week.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms a total of $62,500 for municipal and other rule violations, including $32,500 from Lexington Investment Co. for failing to accurately report muni and corporate securities transactions.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Charles Schumer joined current and former chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday to urge lawmakers to keep a self-funding provision for the SEC in financial regulatory reform legislation that is inching its way to a vote in the Senate.

WASHINGTON — A lawmaker and a Treasury Department official Thursday pushed for a permanent extension of the Build America Bond program, but acknowledged that the greatest obstacle is finding a way to pay for it.