Washington

WASHINGTON — Congressional interest in municipal securities has increased significantly at a time when the issuer community does not appear to be as cohesive as it has been in the past, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s executive director said this week.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments are facing more scrutiny from municipal market participants, including rating agencies and underwriters, market experts warned this week.

SAN ANTONIO — Government officials are sweating the risk that they will lose the tax-exemption for muni bonds, worrying that the market for tax-credit bonds — an alternative to tax-exempts posed by some members of Congress — won’t work as well.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments should boost their continuing disclosure voluntarily or federal regulators may mandate improvements for them, a state finance director warned Saturday.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments dodged a bullet again on the 3% withholding requirement when earlier this month the Internal Revenue Service postponed its start date until 2013.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to file revised amendments to its Rule G-20 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June that will clarify proposed restrictions on gifts and gratuities for muni advisers would be virtually the same as those for broker-dealers, MSRB officials said Monday.

The Internal Revenue Service has revised its Form 8038 for private-activity bonds, asking issuers now to provide more specific information about their guaranteed investment contracts and hedges.

WASHINGTON — A muni market research group is urging Congress to require the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to tag issuers that fail to comply with their secondary-market disclosure agreements and then force dealers to take the flagged muni securities into account when trading.

WASHINGTON — President Obama has nominated Luis Aguilar to a second term at the Securities and Exchange Commission and WilmerHale partner Daniel Gallagher to replace Kathleen Casey, whose term as SEC commissioner expires in July.

WASHINGTON — Loudoun County, Va., is looking at the possible impact of withdrawing its funding for the Washington, D.C., Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission approved proposed rules Wednesday that would bolster the transparency of credit ratings and beef up oversight of rating agencies.

Uncertainty about federal highway funding is causing some states to turn from Garvee bonds to alternative financings, such as toll-backed debt and public-private partnerships, but issuers should be aware of the risks involved, Fitch Ratings warned Wednesday.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., has introduced a bill that would raise the small-issuer limit for bank-qualified bonds to $30 million from $10 million — legislation that is drawing strong support from issuer and muni market groups.

WASHINGTON — Among some issuers of municipal bonds, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Elisse Walter is known for one speech, and one speech only.

Top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee showed support for Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden’s transportation tax-credit bond proposal Tuesday, indicating for the first time that the GOP may back the taxable bonds if they don’t add to federal spending.

The Toledo-Lucas Port Authority entered into a closing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to preserve the tax-exempt status for $3.5 million of 2005 bonds after the IRS found they were taxable.

The United States “effectively shrugs off infrastructure” amid escalating government deficits and cash-strapped taxpayers, according to an annual report released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young on Monday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Kane, McKenna Capital Inc. and Wulff, Hansen & Co. a total of $27,500 for municipal transaction disclosure and trade rule violations.

Medicare’s trust fund will run out of money in 2024 and Social Security’s will be exhausted in 2036, according to the annual reports of their boards of trustees released Friday.

Federal legislation introduced last week would prohibit states and localities from collecting taxes on certain electronic transactions, but governmental officials are worried about the revenue losses and the precedent the law would set.