Bankruptcy

Pennsylvania's House Wednesday passed a bill that would allow Gov. Tom Corbett to declare a state of fiscal emergency in the capital, Harrisburg, and appoint a receiver to run its finances.

Pennsylvania's Senate on Tuesday afternoon approved a bill to put its capital, Harrisburg, into receivership.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Florida auditor general's office called for the Legislature to consider placing limits on how much debt a community development district can issue and to improve oversight for CDD issuance.

Connecticut will receive a credit of about $900,000 from the three major rating agencies as part of a settlement from a lawsuit it initiated, accusing the three of unfairly lowering ratings.

Assured Guaranty has followed in the footsteps of bond insurers MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Group in suing Credit Suisse over soured mortgage-backed securities.

A judge on Monday placed the Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing by Harrisburg's City Council on hold for a month, while a few blocks away in Pennsylvania's capital, lawmakers continued their push for a state takeover of the struggling city.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A Florida judge has validated $2 billion of municipal bonds to fund Property Assessed Clean Energy initiatives statewide.

RBC Capital Markets LLC was fined $95,000 and ordered to pay almost $33,000 in restitution to investors for unfair pricing of municipal bonds, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reported Monday.

In 2003, the City Council in Harrisburg, Pa., voted 6 to 1 for a $125 million loan to fix up its local incinerator, formally known as the Resource Recovery Facility.

SAN ANTONIO - Attorneys must read transaction documents carefully and think before signing them, Securities and Exchange Commission officials warned Thursday, citing an ongoing enforcement case against Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and one of its former executives.

The City Council votes by a narrow majority to file for bankruptcy. The mayor opposes the filing, as does the city solicitor. The state has a bankruptcy restriction in place — which opponents say is too loosely written — and will likely pass a bill next week bill authorizing a takeover of its capital city.

BRADENTON, Fla. - After nearly 10 months of inaction, investors of the defaulted bonds issued by North Florida's Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority may see restructuring negotiations get under way now that a governing board is in place.

Anchorage will drop its lawsuit against the Knik Arm Bridge and Toll Authority, which is proposing a controversial public-private toll bridge project, according to published reports.

Harrisburg's Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing immediately raised questions about the legality of the move as experts pondered the impact on the municipal bond market.

WASHINGTON - Public sector pensions should consider disclosing their projected future contributions in order to fare better in the marketplace, a bond lawyers' group said in guidance circulated earlier this month.

DALLAS - A coalition of school districts and taxpayers has filed suit in a Travis County state court to overturn Texas' system for funding public education.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Santa Rosa County Commission is poised on Thursday to restore a quorum to the junk-rated Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority by appointing three new members. The Florida agency's board hasn't met since 2010 and it defaulted on a bond payment in July.

Two South Florida Republican legislators intend to push for Las Vegas-style casino resorts now that an appellate court has ruled that lawmakers can expand gambling without voter approval.

The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday refused to consider rehearing the appeal of former Jefferson County commissioner Larry Langford on his pay-to-play conviction.

CHICAGO - The Illinois secretary of state has temporarily suspended former Grigsby & Associates Inc. public finance banker Alvin J. Boutte Jr.'s license, accusing him of providing misleading advice to the Illinois Student Assistance Commission in its $12.8 million investment in a failed Chicago bank.