Bankruptcy

BRADENTON, Fla. — Federal prosecutors in Alabama Wednesday recommended that former Jefferson County Commission president Larry Langford be sentenced to a minimum of 24 years and four months and a maximum of 30 years and five months in prison.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service announced yesterday they have agreed to work together more closely to monitor and regulate municipal bonds — another signal that federal regulators have elevated the priority of the muni market.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices yesterday signaled they have concerns about the “honest-services fraud” statute used to convict former Enron Corp. chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling, but were unclear if they would grant his request that they declare it unconstitutionally broad and vague.

Two groups of tax attorneys last week urged the Treasury Department to modify its proposed regulations on bond-financed solid-waste disposal facilities to make sure they would cover all legitimate waste facilities.

An ethics report finding that House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel violated congressional gift rules is the latest in a string of bad news for the embattled New York Democrat, but it remains unclear whether this friend of the muni market will eventually lose his powerful position.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A federal judge in Alabama Friday sentenced Montgomery bond dealer Bill Blount to four years and four months in prison and lobbyist Al LaPierre to four years in prison for their pay-to-play roles in the refinancing of Jefferson County’s $3.2 billion of now-failed sewer warrants.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A Jefferson County, Ala., circuit court judge Thursday ordered U.S. Bank to release $27.4 million so the county could make an arbitrage rebate payment on the 2004 fixed-rate school warrants that the county defaulted on earlier this month.

Maui County has filed a federal lawsuit against Merrill Lynch, saying the firm misled the county into buying student loan auction-rate securities that became illiquid.

WASHINGTON — Three market groups are moving forward with plans to collaborate on new guidelines to improve the quality of derivatives disclosure and the more timely release of financial information.

SAN FRANCISCO — The massive bankruptcy filing of the developers of the Lake Las Vegas resort may be heading to a resolution this year, with the debtors proposing a Chapter 11 exit plan they say will provide the best outcome for municipal bonds affected in the filing.

CHICAGO — Menasha will seek voter approval in an April 6 referendum to sell its electric utility assets in a deal that would help the Wisconsin city resolve a bondholder lawsuit stemming from its default on $23 million of bond anticipation notes issued for a now-shuttered steam plant.

Oppenheimer & Co. agreed to buy back from clients tens of millions of dollars of auction-rate securities under settlements with two states announced yesterday.The New York-based investment bank was accused by New York and Massachusetts of marketing ARS as safe, liquid alternatives to cash, without explaining the risks.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Daniel Naeh, a former CDR Financial Products Inc. employee living in Israel, pleaded guilty Tuesday for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to guaranteed investment contracts and other municipal finance agreements.

CHICAGO — The financially struggling Clare at Water Tower, an upscale, high-rise senior-living development in downtown Chicago, has reached a preliminary restructuring agreement with a group of bondholders and its letter of credit bank that, if approved, would buy the facility more time to succeed.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A myriad of options, including the use of pension bonds, are being considered in Atlanta, where spending on retirement benefits has soared to 20% of the city’s $523 million annual operating budget and the unfunded liability is now $1.5 billion.

Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday selected Ruden McClosky Smith Schuster & Russell PA to be bond counsel and to perform related legal services related to the development of a planned convention center hotel.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Wednesday afternoon that Daniel Naeh, a former CDR Financial Products Inc. employee who is living in Israel, pleaded guilty Tuesday for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other muni contracts.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is expected to unveil a revised financial regulatory reform bill by the end of the week, but it is not expected to include any changes to the municipal market-related provisions floated in the original version in November.

WASHINGTON — Local government defaults and bankruptcies could be higher this year than the historical norm, but are expected to remain rare, Moody’s ­Investors Service said in a report released yesterday.

A federal judge yesterday reluctantly approved the Securities and Exchange Commission’s $150 million settlement with Bank of America Corp., calling the agreement “better than nothing,” but “half-baked justice at best.”