Washington

SAN ANTONIO — “Numerous” municipal market participants have queried the ­Securities and Exchange Commission about bringing muni bond ­abuses to its attention under a new ­congressionally mandated program that provides incentives for whistle-blowers, a top SEC enforcement attorney told bond ­attorneys gathered here Thursday.

SAN ANTONIO — The Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed the municipal securities field hearing it planned to hold in Chicago on Nov. 16.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond ­Lawyers’ new president as of Wednesday night, John ­McNally, appears to be the right man at the right place and the right time, according to the group’s members.

WASHINGTON — California and Florida are the biggest winners of high-speed rail grants, securing $1.7 billion out of a total of $2.5 billion to help close ­funding gaps for ambitious rail projects that have already received large federal grants.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday filed a proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission to revise the Municipal Securities Representative Qualification Examination known as the Series 52.

The National Association of Bond ­Lawyers announced Tuesday that it has hired Linda Holtz Wyman as its chief operating officer.

WASHINGTON — Three hours after Standard & Poor’s announced that it had downgraded Assured Guaranty Ltd.’s two insurer platforms to AA-plus from AAA, 84 material-event notices had been filed with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s online EMMA system disclosing 181 bond issues affected by the rating downgrades.

WASHINGTON — The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago has disclosed that the Internal Revenue Service is examining $600 million of Build America Bonds it issued in August 2009 — the second IRS audit of BABs announced in less than a week.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to soon file rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would eliminate the current practice of allowing a dealer-financial adviser to resign as FA and then underwrite the same muni securities transaction.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to require issuers to provide investors with more information about loans underlying asset-backed securities would apply to municipal bonds and could have far-reaching effects on the muni market, several lawyers said last week.

The Internal Revenue Service is kicking off the first round of audits of Build America Bonds and is asking issuers if any potentially related entities, such as pension plans, are buying their BABs, according to issuers and IRS officials.

WASHINGTON — Market participants are pushing back against attempts by Standard & Poor’s to rate municipal bond deals on the condition that the issuer agrees to accept both greater liability if the rating turns out to be faulty and an ongoing obligation to inform it of any material change to any information provided to the agency.

WASHINGTON — Moving money market funds to a floating net-asset value would “help remove the perception” that MMF’s are risk-free and reduce investor incentives to flee distressed funds, but might be difficult to accomplish and lead to unintended consequences, the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets said in a report released Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The federal government opened its wallet to ports this week, giving them a larger-than-ever share of a $585 million competitive grant program.

WASHINGTON — The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Wednesday approved two underwriting syndicates for a total of up to $485 million of refunding bonds to be issued in two series next month.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation Wednesday formally announced the 75 state and local projects that will receive a total of $585 million for construction and planning, with Atlanta, Fort Worth, Tex., and Seattle receiving the three largest grants.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Energy Information Administration has determined that a legislative proposal to create and authorize $2.4 billion of home energy conservation bonds, as well as new tax credits, would help save 14 trillion British thermal units more than normal expected consumption levels.

WASHINGTON — As the majority-public Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board formally meets for the first time Wednesday through the end of the week, market participants are questioning whether some of its public representatives are really independent from regulated dealers and advisers.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation is expected Wednesday to announce $600 million of grants for transit, rail, bridges, and other state and local surface projects, including at least $390 million for 28 projects in 21 states, according to members of Congress and local officials.

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has introduced legislation that would remove the volume cap from the clean renewable energy bond program, but prohibit most governmental entities from issuing them.