Washington

The Internal Revenue Service has notified the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago that it has closed an audit without changing the tax-exempt status on $346.6 million of general obligation refunding bonds and $50.79 million of GO refunding bonds limited-tax series issued in May 2006.

The MSRB plans to issue a concept release seeking public input on whether it should require underwriters and municipal advisors to disclose over EMMA any third-party payments they make or receive in connection with municipal or municipal-related transactions, an MSRB official said.

WASHINGTON — The Governmental Accounting Standards Board released a guide last week designed to help taxpayers and others glean useful information from school districts' financial statements.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers and the American Bar Association tax-exempt financing committee are urging the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to develop guidance on the definition of issue price for tax-exempt bonds, Build America Bonds and other direct-pay tax credit bonds.

Financial regulators on Thursday defended the practice of settling federal charges brought against financial firms without requiring them to admit they did anything wrong.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and other Republican leaders hope by summer to have a broad framework for comprehensive tax reform so that they can fast-track it next year.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Wenatchee, Wash.’s unlimited-tax general obligation bond rating to Ba2 from A3 on Monday because the city will allow a local events center to default on debt the city agreed to back.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $12.73 million of certificates of participation that were issued by Cañon City, Colo., in 2008 to provide financing for improvements to its water treatment facility.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers released a document containing guidance and suggestions to help issuers provide appropriate disclosures about their public pension systems in bond documents.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office plans to send a letter to several hundred bond issuers that have suffered covenant or payment defaults in recent years, alerting them that certain actions they take could inadvertently trigger a reissuance of the bonds.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus urged Congress, as part of tax reform, to put Indian tribal governments on par with states and localities for tax-exempt financing.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that he expects the deficit reduction and tax reform debates will end with results that resemble the recommendations made by the Bowles-Simpson report.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission had no basis to approve the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's interpretative notice to Rule G-17, which spells out underwriters' fair dealing obligations to state and local municipal bond issuers, the SEC's two Republican members charged in a six-page dissent of the decision.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ordered two firms to pay a total of $100,000 in fines for violations of municipal security and other rules, the self-regulator announced Tuesday.

State transportation officials, engineers, construction firms and transportation advocacy groups are urging lawmakers working on a final highway bill to support the use of new tax-credit bonds to finance transportation projects.

The IRS’s new compliance practice research team will begin circulating a document internally for feedback that will identify red flags for issuers that are likely to occur over the life of a bond issue.

WASHINGTON — District of Columbia residents purchased more than $100 million of the city' latest bond sale of $314 million of income tax-secured revenue refunding bonds, which saved more than $35 million in interest expense, or more than 10% of the refunded principal amount, officials said.

The nation's governors are urging House and Senate conferees working on a final highway bill to avoid doing anything that would restrict flexibility for tax-exempt financing or have a chilling effect on public-private partnerships.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday said it’s delaying taking action on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed rules that would govern the activities of broker’s-brokers until at least June 22.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro wants to move forward with regulations aimed at improving the stability of money-market funds, despite strong opposition from industry and state and local government groups.