Washington

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Wyden’s plans for transportation financing legislation are now focused on tax-credit bonds instead of a scaled-down version of Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a proposed rule that would exempt municipal securities from credit-risk retention requirements imposed in the wake of the financial crisis.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $100 million of general obligation bonds that the Reading School District in Berks County, Pa., issued in 2005 to finance school construction and improvements.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Washington Treasurer James McIntire has thrown his support behind a proposal to reduce the state’s constitutional debt limit and revise the formula used to calculate it.

WASHINGTON — Members of Congress need to suspend their political squeamishness on tax increases and allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire in 2012 if they are serious about federal deficit reform, a research group reported Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $38.77 million of defaulted special assessment bonds that were sold in 2005 by the Aberdeen Community Development District in Florida to finance infrastructure for a residential community.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s muni enforcement priorities include staying on top of undisclosed pension liabilities, faulty bond valuation and pricing, and undisclosed potential tax ­violations that could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of bonds, the SEC’s top cop said Wednesday.

An independent financial adviser has informed the Securities and Exchange Commission that an underwriter recently told a prospective bond issuer that it provided services similar to a financial adviser.

The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that an investor-owned utility can demolish bond-financed pollution control facilities without jeopardizing the tax-exempt status of the bonds or its interest deductions related to the debt.

WASHINGTON — Independent financial advisers are warning the Securities and Exchange Commission that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed changes to Rule G-23 contain loopholes that would allow dealer-financial advisers to switch roles and become underwriters in the same muni transactions.

WASHINGTON — Two District of Columbia universities are tapping the bond markets this week in separate tax-exempt and taxable transactions totaling $145 million.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission officials are urging market participants to provide their views about the muni industry and how it can be improved, after the SEC was forced by budget cuts to suspend a series of field hearings that were to be held around the country.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 87 to 13 Thursday to approve a continuing resolution that would keep the federal government funded through April 8, while Democrats and Republicans try to negotiate funding for rest of the fiscal year.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is developing a system that will tell its examiners and firms’ compliance officials whether firms that sold munis with material-event disclosures passed that information on to customers.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Schapiro told House members Tuesday that her agency is pursuing a number of municipal securities investigations across the country.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined nine firms a total of $129,500 for violations of muni trade reporting, pricing, book-keeping, record-keeping, and supervisory rules.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on Tuesday unveiled legislation for a national infrastructure bank that could finance up to $10 billion of projects in each of its first two years.

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board data for recent years shows a steep decline in municipal bond trading by dollar volume but an increase in the overall number of trades.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation announced late Friday that it is opening up the $2.4 billion of federal high-speed rail money that was rejected by Florida Gov. Rick Scott to a competitive bidding process for states willing to take on new projects.

WASHINGTON — A House oversight panel will hold a second hearing on fiscal problems faced by state and local governments Tuesday, with witnesses from two major rating agencies.