Washington

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.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Morgan Stanley $1 million and ordered it to pay $371,476 in restitution to customers for excessive markups and markdowns on municipal and corporate bonds.

The Senate Thursday voted 95 to 0 to repeal a tax law provision that would require federal, state, and local governments to withhold 3% of certain payments made to private contractors beginning in 2013.

A Senate committee Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a bipartisan, $109 billion, two-year surface transportation bill that maintains current funding levels for highways and provides another $2 billion for a program that provides federal credit assistance for projects.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed a revised definition of "sophisticated municipal market professional" Tuesday that, for the first time, would include individuals with total assets of at least $50 million.

WASHINGTON - Wachovia Bank NA, now Wells Fargo & Co., has reached a tentative settlement of a consolidated class- action suit with municipal issuers over antitrust charges of bid-rigging for municipal investment, derivatives and other contracts.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a proposal to revamp the money-market fund industry "in very short order," chairman Mary Schapiro said Monday.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is auditing the tax-exempt bonds in a number of conduit deals where the borrowers entered into total return swaps and is questioning whether the bonds may be taxable because of arbitrage rule violations, market participants said Monday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board unveiled an online toolkit for muni issuers Monday, telling state and local governments that underwriters, unlike muni advisors, do not have a fiduciary duty to issuer clients.

Regulatory priorities for the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service this year and next include proposing guidance for Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds, according to plans they recently released.

WASHINGTON - Dealer groups and market participants criticized the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's draft rule on broker's brokers last week, saying it would undermine, not improve, secondary market liquidity.

SAN FRANCISCO - Moody's Investors Service downgraded Wenatchee, Wash.'s general obligation ratings three notches due to concerns over city-backed debt issued to pay for a struggling arena.