Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON — Market participants slammed the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s new draft Rule G-43 for broker’s brokers, calling it everything from irresponsible to anti-competitive.

SAN FRANCISCO — Vallejo’s steep road out of bankruptcy has begun to level off, after one of its strongest opponents stopped fighting the California city’s plan to exit bankruptcy.

SAN FRANCISCO — The city of Montebello in Los Angeles County, with more than $100 million in debt, may go bankrupt if it is unable to get a bridge loan in the next six months, according to a city official.

DALLAS — Seeking to forestall default on $127 million of stadium bonds, the Harris County Houston Sports Authority is challenging a UBS Investment Bank demand for a $26.75 million swap termination fee issued last week.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Connector 2000 Association Inc. was expected to begin the exchange of restructured bonds on Monday as part of the South Carolina toll road operator’s bankruptcy plan, which went into effect last week.

With an airline lawsuit behind it and structural tinkering completed, Chicago will enter the market this week with $1.1 billion of mostly new-money revenue bonds to finance the next phase of projects under an $8 billion expansion program at O'Hare International Airport.

Indiana lawmakers will debate whether to allow municipalities to enter into bankruptcy as they hammer out final differences to a bill passed by both chambers but stripped of the Chapter 9 option by the House.

With federal financial regulators scrutinizing Rhode Island's bond offerings and pension disclosures, the state has hired disclosure counsel to review its practices and pave the way to issuing new bonds.

Clifton Gunderson LLP will help Harrisburg with its overdue 2009 audit and its 2010 audit.

WASHINGTON — A bill by House Republicans that would delay implementation of derivatives rules has sparked a firestorm of controversy, with officials and lawmakers trading jabs over the pace of regulatory reform.

CHICAGO — Detroit’s two pension funds late Monday filed a lawsuit against Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Treasurer Andy Dillon over the state’s controversial emergency financial management law.

CHICAGO — A failed film studio project touted by a Hollywood producer has left a Detroit suburb struggling to cover payments on $31 million of bonds that have sparked an informal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Two Federal Reserve economists are refuting claims by some analysts that the muni market is headed for several billion dollars in defaults, calling the projections overblown and out of sync with past recessions.

At a meeting in Nashville last week, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board voted to further amend a proposed rule that would prohibit dealer-financial advisers from switching roles and acting as an underwriter and muni adviser on the same transaction.

CHICAGO — Jury selection will begin Wednesday in the retrial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on federal corruption and pay-to-play charges following a judge’s refusal last week to grant the defense’s request for a delay.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Alabama Supreme Court Friday denied a motion by JPMorgan and other defendants to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed by Jefferson County in November 2009.

Bank of America Corp.’s agreement to pay Assured Guaranty Ltd. $1.1 billion in mortgage put-backs sent bond insurer share prices up more than 20% on Friday.

Harrisburg last week received four responses to its request for proposals to assist in compiling its long-awaited 2009 audit, as well as its 2010 audit.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Jefferson County, Ala., faces a $77 million deficit by the end of the fiscal year due primarily to the loss of tax revenues while “contingent” expenses could render the county insolvent, according to the national turn-around firm FTI Consulting.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Jefferies & Co. $1.5 million for failing to disclose that it was earning additional compensation when selling new-issue, auction-rate securities to clients.