Washington

The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency disclosed Friday that it is complying with an additional information request from the Internal Revenue Service as part of the IRS’ ongoing review of the agency’s student-loan bonds.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond Lawyers is warning the Securities and Exchange Commission that applying its asset-backed securities rules to municipal bonds, as proposed, would violate existing law and run contrary to congressional intent.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Washington state economist Arun Raha made life difficult for state budget writers last week by cutting more than $1 billion from his forecast for general fund revenue.

California, New York, and Illinois are making a play for more than $1.2 billion of high-speed rail funding that was awarded to two Midwestern states whose Republican governors-elect plan to reject the grants.

States and localities pay for a much larger share of transportation and water infrastructure projects than the federal government, but in recent years the total amount of money spent on these projects by all levels of government has declined significantly, according to a 62-page report issued this week by the Congressional Budget Office.

WASHINGTON — Henry T.C. Hu, the head of a relatively new risk division at the Securities and Exchange Commission who provided analysis on municipal and other financial markets, plans to leave the SEC and return to the University of Texas early next year, the commission announced Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed guidance for broker’s brokers would force them to go beyond the board’s existing rules, would be inconsistent with their limited roles in the market, and would impede the efficiency of the interdealer market, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association warned the MSRB this week.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $63.2 million of Build America Bonds that a school district in Finney County, Kan., issued in mid-2009 to finance a new high school and an addition to an elementary school, according to the district’s chief financial officer.

WASHINGTON — The ­Securities and Exchange Commission would violate the Tower Amendment and the principles of federalism if it applies its proposed rules on asset-backed securities to municipal bonds, 14 market groups warned this week.

WASHINGTON — Airport executives made one more attempt this week to convince Senate tax lawmakers to extend two popular bond-financing provisions beyond the end of this year so that airports can continue to borrow at lower rates.

WASHINGTON — A special ethics panel has found New York Rep. Charles Rangel, former Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, guilty on 11 of 13 ethics charges, the panel announced Tuesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Kildare Capital Inc. $25,000 for failing to timely report municipal securities transactions and other rule violations.

Dealer and non-dealer municipal advisers have until Dec. 31 to register with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board under a new system launched Monday.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week issued guidance to state authorities on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and other large facilities, in advance of its new Clean Air Act rules that will take effect Jan. 2.

WASHINGTON — The Government Finance Officers Association is asking the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to more clearly explain the importance of its proposal to nearly double the transaction fees it collects from dealers in order to pay for its development of its EMMA system as well as its new oversight of municipal advisers.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department should permanently apply existing regulations on issue price to all tax-exempt and direct-pay bonds, while clarifying several aspects of the rules, according to the American Bar Association’s taxation section.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission should rein in the American Bankers Association’s CUSIP Service Bureau and prevent it from charging market participants unreasonable and unwarranted fees, according to three trade groups.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is warning the incoming Republican governors of two Midwestern states that unless they use certain grant funding for high-speed rail projects, they will lose the funds entirely.

President Obama’s bipartisan fiscal reform commission cited a tax-reform bill that would eliminate tax-exempt bonds and replace them with tax-credit bonds as a potential way forward when it comes to simplifying the tax code and reducing the federal deficit, according to a draft proposal released Wednesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Goldman, Sachs & Co. $650,000 for failing to disclose that two of its registered representatives, including Fabrice Tourre, received “Wells Notices” from the Securities and Exchange ­Commission.