Washington

The Internal Revenue Service has issued procedures for its agents on how to apply the voluntary closing agreement program to Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds, such as resource recovery zone economic development bonds.

Indian tribes are criticizing the Treasury Department for failing to complete, within the congressionally mandated time frame, a study of the tax law requirements for tribal economic development bonds that the tribes claim are unfair.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve its new proposal for a permanent 21-member board, which would have a majority of public members.

Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire has asked state agencies to prepare for 10% in spending cuts for the next budget.

WASHINGTON - Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Standard & Poor's disclosed its downgrade of U.S. debt to certain financial institutions before it made the information public.

WASHINGTON - A bond lawyer group said Wednesday that while issuers technically do not have to file material event notices on rating changes for pre-refunded bonds that have been legally defeased by an escrow of U.S. Treasuries, they can easily file such notices with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's EMMA system.

The Internal Revenue Service has opened an audit of $31 million of health center revenue bonds issued in 2005 by the Lebanon County, Pa., Health Facilities Authority to refund bonds previously sold in 1999 for a retirement facility.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board floated proposals Wednesday to ban false and misleading advertising by municipal advisors and require them to create written records of their advisory engagements.

WASHINGTON - The Senate Banking Committee is looking into Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt, a committee aide said Tuesday. The committee is gathering information on the rating agency's action, the aide added.

WASHINGTON - Municipal issuers who do not comply with their continuing disclosure agreements should be penalized, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board told the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday.

Standard & Poor's began downgrading municipal bonds Monday, giving market participants a sense of the broad impact its downgrade of U.S. debt will likely have on the muni market.

WASHINGTON - If dealers take advantage of disruption in the financial markets to manipulate prices of municipal securities, they will be violating federal law, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned Monday.

Proposed municipal advisor rules on political contributions and supervision will not become effective until the Securities and Exchange Commission finalizes registration rules and defines the term "municipal advisor" later this year, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said Friday.

Thousands of workers at the Federal Aviation Administration and airport construction projects around the country will be able to return to work this week because of a short-term funding extension.

For the second time in two months, the Internal Revenue Service has disclosed it is broadening an audit of student loan securities, focusing on the position that student loans should not be reallocated to different bond issues.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Thursday filed proposed rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would subject municipal advisers to similar restrictions on gifts and gratuities that already apply to broker-dealers.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments may soon face a difficult choice in the ongoing fallout from state investigations of bid rigging in the municipal securities market: cash in now, or wait and collect potentially larger payments later from antitrust lawsuits seeking treble damages from banks and broker-dealers.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned financial advisers to state and local governments Wednesday that certain bank loans and financings may qualify as private placements of municipal securities, subjecting them to federal securities laws and MSRB rules that apply to broker-dealers.

State and local governments who issue draw-down bonds can breathe a sigh of relief now that the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance for their private-activity bond volume cap allocations.

WASHINGTON - District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Gray has refused to sign a council-approved bill that would delay taxing out-of-state bonds until Jan. 1, 2012, warning that the use of $13.4 million of reserve funds to pay for the delay could hurt the city's credit rating.