Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Diego County Water Authority, California’s third-largest urban water agency, this week plans to price $639 million of water revenue bonds, including its first Build America Bonds.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. fined Southwest Securities Inc. $54,500 and ordered it to pay $23,394 to customers for municipal securities trade reporting and pricing violations as well as non-muni violations. FINRA also fined San-Francisco-based Charles Schwab & Co. $25,000 for muni trade reporting violations.

WASHINGTON ­— Though state regulators were swifter and more aggressive than their federal counterparts in responding to abuses that led to the 2008 collapse of the auction-rate securities market, they could have played a larger role in preventing the crisis if their authority had not been preempted by Congress, the head of a regulator group warned yesterday.

WASHINGTON — The Joint Tax Committee is estimating that the wildly popular Build America Bond program will cost $12.5 billion from fiscal 2009 through fiscal 2013.

SAN FRANCISCO — The often contentious relationship between California and its local governments appears to be ­heading back to the electoral battlefield this year.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Las Vegas Monorail Co., which has more than $600 million of municipal bonds outstanding, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday.

Matt Dalton is willing to buy the debt of a bankrupt borrower — and he can’t find any for sale at a suitable price.

Only in municipal bonds.Matt Dalton is willing to buy the debt of a bankrupt borrower — and he can’t find any for sale at a suitable price.

In her state of the state address Tuesday, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire urged lawmakers to consider new revenue to protect key programs.

In his combined state of the state and budget address Tuesday, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter proposed a fiscal 2011 budget that he said includes no spending increases, and also recommended additional cuts to the state’s current year spending plan.