Washington

WASHINGTON — Broker-dealers from midsize regional firms converged on Capitol Hill and the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday to vent frustration with regulatory delays and what they see as an uneven playing field for dealer financial advisors and independent FAs.

Broker-dealers are not obligated to conduct Internet searches about a particular municipal security before selling it to customers in the secondary market, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said Wednesday.

State and local governments are urging Congress to allow them to collect sales taxes from online retailers, saying this will close a tax gap costing states billions of dollars per year and level the playing field for brick-and-mortar retailers.

WASHINGTON — States are facing a "big squeeze" of slow economic growth, the need for increased spending on Medicaid and other programs, the loss of federal funds and requests for help from cash-strapped local governments, two groups said in a report released Tuesday.

A health care issuer and borrower in Mississippi are discussing the possibility of entering into a voluntary agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to settle tax law violations that occurred after some bond-financed equipment was sold to a private group.

Veteran Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., an architect of the most sweeping financial reform legislation since the Depression and a muni bond investor, said he will retire from Congress next fall and use his remaining time in office to defend the new law against Republican counterattacks.

WASHINGTON - An industry group has asked regulators to disclose the factors they will use to determine which muni broker-dealers pose more risks and should undergo compliance examinations more often under a new proposed exam program.

SAN FRANCISCO - Washington lawmakers will meet in an emergency session Monday to get an early start on tackling the state's $2 billion budget gap, with an agenda that includes a half-cent sales tax increase.

WASHINGTON - The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency has paid $12.3 million to settle tax-law violations and protect the tax-exempt status of its student loan bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A newly appointed member of northwest Florida's Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority has filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, citing what he calls trading irregularities in some of the agency's $116 million of defaulted bonds.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments have temporarily dodged a bullet, with the bipartisan supercommittee's failure to come up with $1.2 billion in spending cuts over the next 10 years, tax experts and lobbyists said Monday.

Some market participants are concerned that the current version of the Volcker Rule would hurt the municipal bond market.

SAN FRANCISCO - Washington Treasurer James McIntire is pitching a rescue plan to prevent a $42 million default, a move he says would protect other state credits from contagion effects.

Louisiana's entire congressional delegation and the Mississippi treasurer are urging the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to issue guidance allowing Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds to be issued after the year ends to refund previously issued GO Zone bonds on a tax-exempt basis.

WASHINGTON - A dealer group blasted recent criticism of underwriters Wednesday, saying it is unaware of broker-dealers urging municipal issuers not to engage financial advisors, or only to work with dealer-FAs.

CHICAGO - The U.S. market for public-private partnerships remains small and fragmented, marred by hurdles like clashing legislation and political controversy, in contrast to Canada and Europe, panelists said at The Bond Buyer's Transportation/P3 Conference here.

CHICAGO - With federal funding and gasoline tax revenue falling far short of meeting demand for transportation infrastructure, sector participants need to do a better job selling the public and political leaders on the perks of investment and the pitfalls of inaction.

WASHINGTON - UBS Financial Services Inc. was fined $300,000 by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for failing to supervise and prevent excessive cross-trading of municipal securities between the customer accounts of one broker for a two-year period.

WASHINGTON - Starting Monday, two of the three major rating agencies will post muni bond ratings for free on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA web site, the MSRB said Monday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has referred unregistered municipal advisors to the Securities and Exchange Commission for investigation and possible enforcement action, the board said Thursday.