Bankruptcy

CHICAGO — Repayment of $46.6 million of taxable tribal gaming revenue bonds issued for the Lac du Flambeau tribe in Wisconsin is in the hands of a federal appellate panel after lawyers for the tribe and bondholders laid out their arguments in a dispute over whether the trust indenture required federal approval.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission should rein in the American Bankers Association’s CUSIP Service Bureau and prevent it from charging market participants unreasonable and unwarranted fees, according to three trade groups.

New York City-based law firm Cravath, Swaine and Moore LLP will advise Harrisburg’s City Council on its options for either filing for bankruptcy or entering into Pennsylvania’s distressed communities program, called Act. 47.

The growing amount of cash that MBIA Inc. expects to see in the coming years from mortgage loan putbacks could boost the company’s balance sheet by billions of dollars, according to a third-quarter earnings conference call Wednesday. That could help restore its ratings so it could begin writing new insurance policies, but ongoing litigation contesting its 2009 ­restructuring continues to hurt the company’s outlook.

The state-appointed receiver who took over governing Central Falls, R.I., has appointed a “state receiver’s council” to take over from the elected City Council, state officials announced Tuesday.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Goldman, Sachs & Co. $650,000 for failing to disclose that two of its registered representatives, including Fabrice Tourre, received “Wells Notices” from the Securities and Exchange ­Commission.

WASHINGTON — Industry groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to provide it with an additional $17 million in revenue annually by nearly doubling the amount of transaction fees it collects from dealers.

WASHINGTON — Industry groups are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to abandon a proposal to alter its Rule G-37 that would require municipal securities dealers to disclose the names of political action committees controlled by bank holding companies or other affiliates.

Ambac Financial Group announced late Monday it filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

A coalition of Kansas school districts filed suit in a Topeka district court last week seeking to overturn portions of the state’s funding formula for public education.

State and local governments generally will be able to take steps to address the economic turbulence they face without filing for bankruptcy or defaulting on their debt, Standard & Poor's said in a pair of reports released Monday.

Vallejo, Calif., City Council members will weigh a plan to emerge from bankruptcy later this month, but the city is still likely more than half a year away from exiting the largest municipal bankruptcy in more than a decade.

Securities and Exchange Commission member Elisse Walter wants Congress to do away with the exemptions for municipal debt in the federal securities laws, but probably would not want the SEC to collect bond documents from issuers prior to issuance, according to bond attorneys familiar with the matter.

Dauphin County, Pa., Commissioners Wednesday approved a contingent $34.7 million loan from PNC Bank to pay off Harrisburg Authority incinerator notes that will come due on Dec. 15.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Defaults by some Florida community development districts that sold “dirt bonds” to finance infrastructure improvements for residential and commercial real estate projects continued Monday as debt-service payments came due.

The Securities and Exchange Commission unanimously agreed to propose rules for establishing a broad whistleblower program less than a week after an SEC attorney said the agency has obtained numerous queries from muni market participants interested in reporting abuses for awards.

WASHINGTON — The Republican takeover of the House could result in an entirely different perspective on municipal market regulation, if Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus, who has called for greater federal oversight of muni issuers, takes over as chairman of the Financial Services Committee as expected.

WASHINGTON — Municipal borrowers are much slower than corporations to complete annual audited financial reports, confirming many analysts’ claims that muni issuers’ annual financial disclosures are often stale, a new report shows.

DALLAS — An Arkansas district judge gave the state the go-ahead Tuesday to tabulate the votes on a measure lifting the constitutional ceiling on public debt interest rates.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission the first batch of proposals to extend to municipal advisers its rules on fair-dealing, disciplinary actions and administrative requirements.