Bankruptcy

A public pension disclosure project spearheaded by a bond attorneys' group is expected to reach a critical milestone when it should become clear whether a voluntary coalition of industry participants will reach consensus on the project or produce separate recommendations.

Nassau County, N.Y., won a court case last week in a dispute over payment of tax rebates to homeowners, but the county can expect a court challenge.

The remaining bank policyholders suing bond insurer MBIA Inc. have requested that the New York Insurance Department hire an independent expert to analyze expected future losses in MBIA's structured finance portfolio.

SAN FRANCISCO — An eastern Washington public facilities district that defaulted on $42 million of notes last month is scrambling for ways to pay investors.

Harrisburg's City Council has delayed a vote on overriding mayor Linda Thompson's veto of the $54.3 million annual budget, citing a law that requires a three-day waiting period after the veto.

A construction firm convicted of fraud in connection with repairing Jefferson County’s sewer system has finally paid nearly $20 million in fines and court costs assessed more than five years ago, Alabama U.S. attorney Joyce White Vance said Friday.

With one of its two hub airlines in bankruptcy, Chicago officials breathed a bit easier last month when Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its ratings on Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s $5.6 billion of general airport revenue debt.

Bond lawyers and restructuring experts agreed that bankruptcy court approval of pension agreements between Central Falls, R.I., and its retirees and public sector unions is good for the bond market.

Putting an end to the one of the most high-profile criminal trials in the muni market since the mid-1990s, two former employees of CDR Financial Products Inc. each pleaded guilty to three criminal counts in connection with bid-rigging of investment and derivatives contracts for muni bond proceeds.

Alabama federal Judge Thomas Bennett Friday limited the power of the receiver managing Jefferson County's sewer system.

"Questionable practices" regarding the financings of the incinerator retrofit project in Harrisburg, Pa., merit a further investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the attorney for the City Council said in a report issued Friday.

Seattle-based Perkins Coie LLP has hired a trio of public finance attorneys who will work out of the firm's Chicago office to help expand its health care business.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow it to assess its muni members quarterly fees based on the par value of their reported transactions to help fund the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, despite protests from issuers and dealers.

The California Supreme Court rang the death knell for the state's redevelopment agencies, sparking questions about how their existing obligations will be met.

As Jefferson County, Ala., slogs through the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy, at least 10 bills that provide various forms of fiscal relief for the county are being advertised in advance of this year's regular legislative session, which begins Feb. 7.

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled a conference for Jan. 13 at which the panel will decide whether to allow former Jefferson County Commissioner Larry Langford’s appeal to go forward.

Opening statements in a federal criminal muni bid-rigging trial have been postponed one week, to Jan. 17 from Jan. 9, prompting some market participants to wonder whether the remaining defendants are seeking to negotiate guilty pleas.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued a Georgia attorney and his client for securities fraud over their failure to disclose the client's criminal indictment in bond documents for $2.96 million of industrial redevelopment revenue bonds sold by Raleigh County, W. Va., in 2006 and 2007 that are now in default.

Children’s Memorial Hospital’s plans to build a heliport on the roof of its partially bond-financed hospital under construction in downtown Chicago is being challenged by a community group.

The Plano Independent School District faces a new year of litigation over Texas' school funding law after surviving a year of unprecedented austerity.