Washington

WASHINGTON — Representatives of the three major credit rating agencies said Tuesday they do not know of any rating analysts who were treated to expensive dinners, Broadway shows or sporting events by broker-dealers to obtain favorable muni ratings. All said they are unaware of any regulatory investigations of such alleged conduct.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has not found any major abuses from its targeted examinations of broker-dealers that were either placement agents or worked with such agents to obtain business from municipalities and public pension funds, market sources said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — In the first case of its kind, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Southwest Securities Inc. $500,000 for paying unaffiliated individuals to solicit municipal securities business for it, in violation of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-38.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service made about $2.9 billion of subsidy payments to issuers of Build America Bonds and other direct-pay bonds through February, Cliff Gannett, director of the IRS’ tax-exempt bond office, said Monday.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board wants to keep a 21-member board for another year, from Oct. 1, 2011 through Oct. 1, 2012, until it determines what size the MSRB should be on a permanent basis.

WASHINGTON — Four more members of Congress have sent letters to the SEC expressing concerns or raising questions about provisions in its proposed muni adviser registration rules that would treat state and local appointed board members as muni advisers who would be subject to registration and regulation.

AUSTIN — The Securities and Exchange Commission’s muni chief defended a proposal to register state and local appointed board members as municipal advisers, calling it an effort to respond to abuses in the area.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wants to write a second chapter for the popular Build America Bond program, by reviving the federally subsidized taxable bonds to specifically fund transportation projects.

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Wednesday signed a stopgap measure to keep the federal government funded through March 18 just hours after the Senate approved it by a vote of 91 to 9.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously agreed to propose amendments to its Rule 2a-7 that would remove all credit rating references from the rule, which requires money market funds to invest in high-quality and very liquid short-term securities.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Wednesday that he is open to interstate tolling, which could provide funds for the Obama administration’s ambitious agenda, as an alternative to raising the federal gas tax, the current source of revenues for most transportation projects.

The Bond Dealers of America has announced its new leadership team — Michael Marz as chairman, Larry Bowden as vice chairman, and Jay J. Hiniker 3d as secretary and treasurer.

More than two-thirds of states overestimated their revenue projections in fiscal 2009, forcing lawmakers to reopen budgets for additional rounds of spending cuts, according to a report released Tuesday.

The Internal Revenue Service has notified the Montana Facility Finance Authority that it has closed its audit of $14.15 million of variable-rate demand revenue bonds issued in 2002 without any change to the bonds’ tax-exempt status.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Two Florida senators, a Republican and a Democrat, filed a 281-page petition Tuesday with the state Supreme Court seeking an emergency ruling to block Gov. Rick Scott from rejecting $2.4 billion of federal funds for high-speed rail.

WASHINGTON — States officials are eyeing $2.4 billion of federal high-speed rail money that was allocated for Florida, but is now up for grabs after Gov. Rick Scott effectively ended the state’s project by rejecting the funding earlier this month.

WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., is warning the Securities and Exchange Commission that he does not support its proposed rules for a municipal adviser registration system because they are too broad and do not reflect congressional intent.

Dealer and bank groups warned they face a regulatory quagmire with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s draft muni adviser pay-to-play restrictions because the board and Securities and Exchange Commission define terms associated with muni advisers differently and have varying sets of rules for muni and investment advisers.

With pundits predicting a "wave of bankruptcies" in the municipal market this year, experts say one thing should be kept in mind: the majority of distressed issuers undergoing the Chapter 9 process don't end up stiffing bondholders.

The Internal Revenue Service announced Friday that issuers that purchased and still hold their auction-rate securities can enter into voluntary closing agreements under which the securities will continue to exist if the issuers pay a fee and meet certain conditions.