Washington

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday named new officers and board members who will assume their posts Oct. 1.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Tuesday announced its officers and Board of Directors members who will begin their terms on October 1, 2013. Daniel Heimowitz, Managing Director at RBC Capital Markets, will serve as Chair of the MSRB. Joseph J. Geraci, Managing Director and Co-Head of Municipal Markets at Citi, will serve as Vice Chair.

For the first time, the SEC has charged an issuer, an underwriter, and one of its officials with falsely claiming in bond documents that the issuer was meeting its secondary market disclosure obligations when it wasn't.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, under fire for a plan to keep committee members' proposals for overhauling the Internal Revenue Code secret, may release portions of the legislation after the August recess.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal for money market funds to use floating net asset values could cost state and local governments millions dollars and force them to abandon MMF investments, market participants and a new study asserted Thursday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging reporters and members of the public to go to its EMMA online website for information on Detroit's bonds and the municipal securities market in general.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent enforcement action against Miami, Fla. signals the commission's seriousness about both upholding prior cease and desist orders and holding public officials accountable, market participants said.

Gonzaga University postponed a $47.5 million taxable revenue bond deal saying it plans to wait for market conditions to firm.

The Internal Revenue Service's Office of Appeals is recommending that the agency issue a new determination letter in order to reinstate the tax exemption of approximately $8.5 million charter school project revenue bonds issued for the LEAP Academy University Charter School in 2003.

Fitch Ratings has revised Washington State's outlook to stable from negative citing improved economic and revenue performance.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board launched a new service on Monday that will allow state and local municipal bond issuers to schedule automated emails that will remind them of their self-imposed deadlines for filing annual and quarterly financial disclosures.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has suspended consideration of a $5.5 billion loan request for a high-speed rail project from Las Vegas to Southern California.

Pressure is mounting for the Securities and Exchange Commission to complete its rulemaking defining municipal advisors, with congressional aides saying a House panel will likely hold a hearing on potentially preemptive legislation after the August recess.

The newest U.S. Senator, Ed Markey, has been assigned to the Commerce, Science and Transportation committee, which splits jurisdiction over transportation issues with the Environment and Public Works Committee.

The Senate Banking Committee unanimously agreed to recommend the full Senate confirm Kara Stein and Michael Piwowar as Securities and Exchange Commission members and approve chairman Mary Jo White to serve a full term.

Just three months after the operator of the parking garages at New York's Yankee Stadium defaulted on its debt, it faces another obstacle, this time with the Internal Revenue Service.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined four firms $106,000 and fined and suspended an individual for municipal securities rule violations.

The American Bar Association's Tax Exempt Financing Committee recommended that the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issue guidance on the definition of issue price and safe harbors for determining private use of management contracts for bond financed facilities as part of its 2013-2014 priority list.

State debt issuance has remained below average levels even though governments have large infrastructure needs and less ability to pay for projects through pay-as-you-go financing, Standard & Poor's said in a report.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Wednesday it will launch a tool to help issuers keep track of the dates they must file periodic financial disclosures to its EMMA website. But some question whether this will cause a dispute between the MSRB and Digital Assurance Certification.