Bankruptcy

Robert Bradbury, the former chairman and chief executive officer of the now-defunct underwriting firm Dolphin & Bradbury Inc., was sentenced by a federal judge in Philadelphia yesterday to a 366-day prison sentence and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine in connection with his pleading guilty to one criminal count of securities fraud.

WASHINGTON — As the House Friday approved the most sweeping financial regulatory reform legislation since the Depression, municipal issuers are debating the effectiveness of a little-noticed provision that would require rating agencies to rate municipal and other debt on the same scale and based on the likelihood of repayment to investors.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission has barred ex-Wachovia Securities LLC broker Guy P. Riordan from associating with any broker or dealer, and ordered him to pay a $500,000 penalty and to disgorge almost $938,354 in ill-gotten gains and interest for securities fraud violations stemming from a pay-to-play scheme involving the former treasurer of New Mexico.

WASHINGTON — The House is poised to approve a massive financial regulatory reform bill today, after considering a series of amendments late into last night.

SAN FRANCISCO — A special ­election Tuesday may hasten the end of Valley Health System’s two-year-old Chapter 9 bankruptcy case and lead to the ­redemption of the Southern California public hospital district’s outstanding tax-exempt bonds.

CHICAGO — The Menasha Common Council and city utilities commission this week advanced plans that could resolve the Wisconsin city’s debt troubles and a bondholder lawsuit stemming from its now-shuttered steam plant by selling the facility to WPPI Energy.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that it has settled its civil litigation against Robert Bradbury, the former chairman and chief executive officer of the now defunct underwriting firm Dolphin & Bradbury Inc., and barred him from the securities markets.

WASHINGTON — House Financial Services Committee members and their colleagues have drafted almost 250 amendments that they would like to see added to the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, including one that would prohibit state and local governments and public pension funds from entering into swaps.

The Justice Department must release details from 300 municipal reinvestment contracts that allegedly were rigged, as well as the identities of the alleged co-conspirators involved in those transactions, to attorneys representing CDR Financial Products and three individuals named in a federal indictment in late October, a judge in New York said Friday.

WASHINGTON — Dismissing criticism from market groups, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has moved forward with a proposal that would require muni securities dealers, as well as their finance professionals and political action committees, to disclose most contributions they make to bond ballot election campaigns.

The battle to rid New York State pension and retirement funds of pay-to-play and placement agent “kick-backs” crept steadily forward today after Elliot Broidy, founder and chairman of Markstone Capital Group, plead guilty to offering millions of dollars in bribes for investment contracts.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday approved Gov. Charlie Crist’s request to impanel a statewide grand jury to conduct a year-long investigation into government corruption.

Construction of Linden Ponds, an ­Erickson Retirement Communities development in the Boston area, will resume late next year, and investors in the project’s $156 million of tax-exempt bonds will be paid, Erickson executive staff told bondholders and market participants last week in an investor call.

The House Financial Services Committee yesterday approved the final two pieces of a package of legislation to reshape the financial regulatory system, paving the way for the full House to debate and vote on the measures as one omnibus bill next week.

Jefferson County commissioners last week decided they will no longer seek a $25 million line of credit from Regions Bank, according to local publications.

A federal appeals court last week rejected an appeal filed by William A. ­DiBella, former majority leader of the Connecticut Senate, and his consulting firm, North Cove Ventures LLC, to overturn a 2007 jury verdict and judgement against them for their involvement in a fraudulent pay-to-play scheme in connection with the state’s pension fund.

The Securities and Exchange Commission last week released final rule changes designed to impose additional disclosure and conflict of interest requirements on rating agencies registered as nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. At the same time, it issued proposed new rules that would impose additional reporting requirements on the NRSROs.

CHICAGO — The Clare at Water Tower, an upscale ­high-rise senior-living community in downtown Chicago that has struggled to meet financial ­projections due to cost ­overruns, construction delays, and ­faltering occupancy rates, drew $554,000 from its debt-service reserves to cover its Nov. 15 debt-service payment.

In spite of a recent warning by Ambac Financial Group Inc. that it may have to file for bankruptcy protection as early as the first quarter of 2011, the Wisconsin commissioner of insurance, the company’s regulator, said it has sufficient expertise to handle any eventuality and has also rejected the notion that the company should be allowed to split its books.

After years of controversy, the Atlantic Yards basketball arena project in Brooklyn yesterday received board approval to issue bonds next month and won a major lawsuit that sought to overturn New York State’s use of eminent domain.