Washington

WASHINGTON - Two key Democratic lawmakers are urging financial regulators to protect the ability of pension plans and state and local governments to use interest rate swaps cost-effectively.

WASHINGTON - There are perceptible signs that a long-awaited surface transportation bill may actually be approved by Congress early next year.

WASHINGTON - Market participants urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject or delay the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed interpretive guidance for Rule G-17 on fair dealing for underwriters, saying it would impose a fiduciary-like regimen of disclosure obligations that would only confuse issuers.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has adopted rule changes allowing it to have 21 board members on a permanent basis after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the larger size.

WASHINGTON - As lawmakers and regulators debate improvements to secondary market disclosure, the new chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board stresses it is ready to expand its role to disseminate issuers' interim financial information through its EMMA system.

Fitch Ratings warned it may have to lower ratings on Garvee bonds if Congress only approves more short-term extensions of a surface transportation bill through 2012 instead of a multi-year bill.

WASHINGTON - President Obama has sent draft legislation to the congressional deficit reduction committee that would have the potential to further limit the value of tax-exempt interest for higher-income taxpayers below the 28% level proposed in his jobs bill.

WASHINGTON - With the 2012 election cycle intensifying, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned broker-dealers Wednesday that its rule banning pay-to-play political contributions applies to issuer officials who are running for president.

The municipal bond market is fragmented and lacks an overarching theme as it enters the final quarter of 2011.

Securities and Exchange Commission staff are pressing forward with a final municipal advisor registration scheme and a report that will recommend improvements in disclosure and other areas of the muni market, commissioner Elisse Walter said Tuesday.

RBC Capital Markets LLC will pay $30.4 million to settle charges filed Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission accusing the firm of misconduct for its role in the sale of unsuitably risky investment products to five Wisconsin school districts.

The fiscal condition of cities is continuing to weaken in 2011 and isn't likely to improve in 2012, the National League of Cities concluded in a report released Tuesday.

NEW YORK - The Internal Revenue Service is planning to begin full-blown audits of advance refunding bonds and focused audits of tax and revenue anticipation notes and multifamily housing bonds, an IRS official said at a seminar here Monday.

House Transportation Committee chairman Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., has been given the go-ahead by leadership to include $15 billion more for transportation programs in his multi-year bill, if he can find the revenue, sources said.

With support from the president, members of both parties in both houses of Congress, think tanks and financial institutions, creation of a national infrastructure bank might seem like a slam dunk.

WASHINGTON - Underwriters may need to withdraw from a competitive transaction if they uncover inaccurate disclosure and the issuer cannot resolve their concerns, a dealer group said in guidance released last week.

WASHINGTON - States' unfunded liabilities for health care and other non-pension post-employment benefits totaled $545 billion in fiscal 2010, Standard & Poor's said in a report issued Thursday.

WASHINGTON - A bond lawyers' group is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow issuers to disclose interim financial action without fear of possible enforcement action by the agency.

With tax revenues continuing to sputter, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire Thursday announced that she will call legislators in for a special session, beginning Nov. 28.

WASHINGTON - Small, independent municipal advisors asked the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board for an exemption from its proposed $300 per head annual assessment, while dealers criticized as burdensome and costly the board's survey designed to obtain compensation and income data for the assessments.