Bankruptcy

The tale of the tape continued Wednesday in the municipal bond bid-rigging trial in Manhattan, as prosecutors, interspersing audio tapes and transcripts with bid documents, called to the stand another former employee of brokerage CDR Financial Services, seeking to establish a pattern of fraud by three former executives of General Electric Co. subsidiaries.

U.S. Bank NA on Tuesday notified holders of the Connector 2000 Association Inc.’s 2011 toll revenue term bonds that an exchange of bonds will take place around May 31.

Tampa Bay Water, a regional supplier for three counties on the west coast of Florida, is expected to ask for a new trial after losing a $100 million civil suit last week for what it claimed was a faulty reservoir design, according to published reports.

The federal judge overseeing the Jefferson County, Ala., bankruptcy case has set deadlines for creditors to file proof of claims.

The federal prosecutors in a municipal bond bid-rigging trial that began in New York accused three executives of fraud that cost cities and towns, and the IRS, millions of dollars.

BRADENTON, Fla. — South Carolina federal bankruptcy Judge David Duncan last week approved a plan allowing investors who want to trade their Connector 2000 Association term bonds to exchange them.

A preliminary Travis County state district court ruling on whether oil and gas drilling and production equipment is exempt from the Texas sales tax could cost the state millions of dollars a year in lost revenues and billions more in refunds.

A bankruptcy court judge in Chicago will be asked next week to approve a $53.5 million cash offer to purchase the assets of the Clare at Water Tower continuing-care community in a deal that provides holders of the facility’s $229 million of debt with a recovery rate of at least 20 cents on the dollar, sources said.

Providence dropped retired Supreme Court Justice Robert Flanders as an advisor after he said the capital city was headed to bankruptcy court.

Former Maine Turnpike Authority executive director Paul Violette has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison for misusing as much as $230,000 in agency funds.

Aurelius Capital Master Ltd. and UBS have withdrawn from suits against bond-insurer MBIA Inc.

Tampa Bay Water, a regional supplier for three counties on the west coast of Florida, counted on winning $100 million for what it claimed was a faulty reservoir design.

Tuesday afternoon the Birmingham News reported a federal district judge ruled that the county's creditors could appeal the county's eligibility to file for Chapter 9.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday proposed rule changes that would eliminate some duplicative reporting requirements faced by underwriters of new-issue muni securities.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Balch & Bingham LLP will expand its public finance practice next month with the addition of the seven bond attorneys from Presley Burton & Collier LLC.

Three banks suing MBIA Inc. accused the bond insurer of deliberately withholding damaging financial projections from insurance regulators who were evaluating its transformation.

The first criminal trial involving muni market executives accused of bid-rigging is scheduled to begin next week in a federal court in New York City, unless they enter into plea agreements.

The California attorney general's office filed a lawsuit against Orange County last Thursday to prevent the county from diverting money from education in order to balance its budget.

A dispute over $25 million in the state's proposed $14.3 billion budget for fiscal 2013 will close state courts for five days, Kansas Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said last week.

A FINRA hearing panel has fined David Lerner Associates $2.3 million and suspended head trader William Mason for six months with a $200,000 fine for charging excessive markups on muni bond and collateralized mortgage obligation transactions.