Bankruptcy

CHICAGO — Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday morning in the federal corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich after his defense rested its case last week without calling him to the stand.

The New York State Thruway Authority board last week authorized its executive director to negotiate but not execute on his own a new contract with Hawkins Delafield & Wood LLP, which has been bond counsel for the agency for all of its 60 years of existence.

WASHINGTON — At the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is moving forward with rule changes for priority of orders in primary offerings. The changes are more in line with the original proposal the MSRB floated late last year rather than a pared-down version it agreed to in April.

WASHINGTON — The House ethics committee’s investigative panel is alleging that former Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has violated ethics rules.

One of Vallejo’s employee unions is continuing its legal fight against the city’s rejection of its contract in bankruptcy court.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is considering temporarily expanding its 15-member board, possibly by two to four members, as it transitions to majority-public membership by Oct. 1 to comply with the new financial regulatory reform law.

WASHINGTON — President Obama yesterday signed into law financial regulatory reform legislation that will make sweeping changes in the municipal and other markets, saying it will prevent a reoccurrence of the “breakdown” that caused the current “severe recession.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to propose new rules designed to revamp the sales and distribution fees some mutual funds charge and to provide better disclosures of them to investors.

CHICAGO — The managers of the bondholder-owned St. Louis convention center hotel complex presented a more upbeat revenue forecast for the facilities in a financial update last week, according to a new investor notice.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering holding five field hearings between September and January as part of a nationwide inquiry on the municipal market that is expected to lead to recommendations for statutory and regulatory changes to better protect investors.

CHICAGO — A Wisconsin Supreme Court decision overturning the state diversion of $200 million from a medical malpractice fund will force a new round of budget cuts, Gov. Jim Doyle’s administration said Tuesday.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency needs to hire 800 people to implement provisions in the financial regulatory reform legislation that President Obama is expected to sign into law today.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking a summary judgment against former Jefferson County, Ala., commissioner Larry Langford on three counts of violating the federal Securities Act.

CHICAGO — Lawyers for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his older brother Robert launched their defense Monday against allegations the ex-governor sought to use his official powers to personally profit and build his campaign coffers.

A receiver appointed by Rhode Island to take over the city of Central Falls’ operations moved quickly on his first day Monday, relieving its mayor of his duties and firing an official.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is soliciting public comments through Aug. 9 on a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to change its EMMA site to reflect new materiality standards for continuing disclosures as well as changes to a list of event-based disclosures that borrowers may voluntarily submit to the system.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and 29 other members of Congress have introduced legislation that would prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from stifling state programs that allow localities to sell bonds to finance energy-efficient ­upgrades made by ­homeowners.

CHICAGO — Even with a water rate increase expected to boost revenues, the Xenia Rural Water District still faces possible insolvency as its revenues can’t keep up with repayment of its $140 million of debt, according to a new Iowa state auditor’s report.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined three firms a total of $92,500, mostly for municipal bond rule violations, and barred a former principal of a firm from the market for falsifying investment statements for a widow to make it look like she owned muni bonds when she did not.

CHICAGO — A federal court ruling that lets the Lac du Flambeau tribe off the hook for repayment of $46.6 million of tribal gaming revenue bonds could harm the municipal market as a whole because the ruling undercuts investor rights in bond indentures and confidence in disclosure, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts warns.