Washington

The Virginia Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday that allows the Elizabeth River Tunnels project to move forward as a tolled facility.

Groups active in the municipal market are urging federal agencies to exempt tender option bonds and nonprofit and state agency student loan organizations from risk retention rules imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Bellevue School District in King County, Wash. is planning to sell $100 million of unlimited tax general obligation bonds in a competitive offering next week to fund school construction throughout the district.

A federal court in New York delayed the sentencing of former UBS Banker Mark Zaino to Dec. 12 for his role in rigging municipal bond contracts.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $43.26 million of subordinate revenue bonds that the Coral Springs, Fla., Improvement District sold in 2007 to finance water and sewer system improvements.

New head of state highway officials group seeks national economic stability through sustainable federal transportation funding.

The Treasury Department announced Thursday that it is resuming the sale of state and local government series securities at 1 p.m., EDT, after the longest suspension in 17 years.

Sentencing for convicted bid-rigger David Rubin has been pushed back to Dec. 3 from Oct. 18, at the request of defense attorneys who said they needed more time to prepare an analysis disputing the $11.5 million of restitution federal prosecutors are seeking.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities will gain another attorney next month when Goldman Sachs' Edward Fierro comes aboard Nov. 4.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms a total $115,000, and ordered two of them to pay $35,441 of restitution to customers, for violating municipal securities fair pricing, fair dealing and primary offering disclosure rules.

Broker-dealer firms can do more to manage conflicts of interest in their businesses, including by taking steps to deal more transparently with retail investors, according to a report published by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Regulators warned brokers at a Bond Dealers of America conference not to play loose with municipal securities rules, and asked them to report competitors they suspect.

Leaders of financial groups and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Thursday that brinkmanship over the debt limit is already hurting the financial markets and that a default would have catastrophic impacts domestically and globally, making it harder to deal with long-term U.S. debt issues.

Municipalities continue to suffer from the lingering effects of the economic downturn, though local and regional economies are improving and tax bases are gaining strength, the National League of Cities says in a new report.

The National Association of State Treasurers elected officers for 2014 and adopted several bond-related resolutions, during an annual business meeting at its conference here on Monday.

District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray is demanding a meeting with President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, citing a potential loss of municipal services and funding from the federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1.

Dealer groups are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to use restraint in developing a best execution rule for the municipal market, warning that a "trade-by-trade" mandate is not feasible and pushing for their own alternative standard.

St. Louis-based broker-dealer L.J. Hart & Co. was censured and paid a $200,000 fine to settle FINRA charges that it improperly gave more than $183,000 in sports tickets to issuer clients

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has withdrawn its proposal to loosen the standard of independence for public board members, citing "unexpected opposition."