Washington

The nearly $30 billion in economic damages caused by Hurricane Sandy will not have a detrimental effect on the creditworthiness of U.S. debt, but it is likely to have negative consequences for mid-Atlantic electric utility companies.

New York City Housing Development Corp. president Marc Jahr has been tapped as the chairman of the interim executive committee of Municipal Bonds for America, a coalition formed to stave off threats to tax exemption.

State transportation agencies are working together to develop strategies aimed at making investment in infrastructure more palatable to the public, as official fears of a rising investment gap meet public concerns about long-term debt.

Allyson Dodd has been promoted to field operations manager of the IRS' TEB office and Vicky Tsilas will officially begin her new position at the Treasury Department as associate tax legislative counsel on Monday.

A Washington Supreme Court ruling has thrown a wrench into the use of a contingent loan agreements to support bond issues.

The MSRB plans to study the idea of restricting, or possibly banning, contributions to bond-ballot campaigns by muni bond dealers.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary L. Schapiro today issued a statement saying she is pleased that the nation’s securities markets were able to open Wednesday despite the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to propose regulations that would require dealers to disclose more information about contributions to bond-ballot campaigns.

Hurricane Sandy left major challenges for many municipal bond firms after the Financial District of Manhattan was hammered hard by the storm.

Market participants whose electronic systems have been affected by Hurricane Sandy may want to notify the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Steven Miller will become acting IRS commissioner after Doug Shulman finishes his five-year term on Nov. 9.

House Appropriations Chair Hal Rogers asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to help eliminate rules requiring municipalities to defease outstanding bonds when selling or leasing their water systems to a private company.

The IRS will soon publish a report about their findings from 300 questionnaires they sent out last year to governmental and 501(c)(3) issuers about their advance-refunding procedures and post-issuance compliance, an agency official told bond lawyers at the NABL conference.

Securities and Exchange Commission officials downplayed the potential for the so-called budget "sequestration" Thursday, but said dealers selling Build America Bonds should inform investors of any potentially risky call provisions.

Moody's Investors Service affirmed the Aa1 rating of King County, Wash. limited tax general obligation bonds and the Aaa rating of its unlimited tax GOs.

Bonds have played a role in financing spaceports.

The District of Columbia's Chief Financial Officer will hand over nearly three years of internal audits and add a disclosure to the district's most recent debt issuance after a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

New York residents shoulder the highest state and local tax burdens at 12.8%, the Tax Foundation found in a new study.

Marcy Edwards, senior financial policy advisor to the District of Columbia's chief financial officer, has been named a public board member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, the MSRB announced Monday.