Bankruptcy

WASHINGTON - The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing March 20 to promote aggressive federal and state investigations of financial fraud and other abuses, including auction-rate securities, the panel's chairman said yesterday.

CHICAGO - The fate of a $300 million bond-financed plan to expand Detroit's convention center - one of the city's chief economic assets - appears headed for court.

CHICAGO - Months after narrowly avoiding its first default, the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is faced with another delinquent bond-fund borrower that has warned it would likely have a tough time making its full monthly debt payments this year due to the weak economy.

WASHINGTON - Standard & Poor's issued a white paper yesterday that embraced increased global oversight of rating agencies, including rules that require "robust" disclosure of rating criteria and methodologies and that address potential conflicts of interest in the ratings process.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board this week called for the Treasury Department to extend the termination date for its $50 billion temporary guarantee program for money market mutual funds to Sept. 18 from April 30.

WASHINGTON - More than a year after the auction-rate securities market collapsed, some $78 billion of illiquid municipal ARS remain outstanding, but a growing number of bond attorneys are pushing to use a new type of taxable bond program recently authorized by Congress to refund some of those securities.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Two Florida lawmakers have filed bills that would require water management districts to get voter approval through referendums before selling certificates of participation.

CHICAGO - Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has declared the city of Pontiac to be in a state of fiscal emergency and will likely appoint a manager to take over its finances after a hearing scheduled for next week.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal judge has scheduled a full hearing for March 24 on a motion by bond insurers and a bank trustee to appoint a receiver to oversee Jefferson County, Ala.,'s debt-ridden sewer system.

SACRAMENTO - Imagine a state with a logical system of government in which balanced budgets are adopted on time and leaders tackle difficult issues.

A Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge has ordered former investment adviser Kent D. Nelson barred from the securities markets after he pleaded guilty to a felony in connection with a pay-to-play scheme involving the New Mexico treasurer's office.

SAN FRANCISCO - California dealt with its short-term budget crisis last week, but its long-term fiscal imbalance continues to grow, according to a new report from Controller John Chiang.

WASHINGTON - Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd yesterday strongly urged Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury officials to meet with lawmakers to work out a plan to include the municipal market in the Fed's lending programs.

The House today will take up a $410 billion fiscal 2009 omnibus spending package that includes $40.7 billion for transportation infrastructure and $41.5 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The time for passage is tight: on March 6 a continuing resolution that has kept federal agencies in operation since the fiscal year began on Oct. 1 will expire.

SACRAMENTO - The U.S. Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel wants to take a closer look at a lower court decision to accept testimony by a city accountant who helped convince the lower court that Vallejo, Calif., is bankrupt.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's net assets rose to just over $28 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2008, $3.6 million more than the previous year, according to an audited financial statement and report released by the board yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The federal judge in Alabama who is considering whether to appoint a receiver for Jefferson County's sewer system will not hold a full hearing as had been expected on Wednesday.

CHICAGO - A federal Second Circuit Appellate Court panel has upheld a lower court decision allowing a majority of investors who held $414 million of Kenton County, Ky., Airport Board bonds issued for Delta Air Lines Inc. to enter into a settlement as part of Delta's 2005 bankruptcy over the objections of a small group of bondholders.

SACRAMENTO - The U.S. Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel late last week heard Vallejo, Calif., employees' appeal of the city's bankruptcy eligibility.

SAN FRANCISCO - Last summer - during a previous drawn-out California budget crisis - a Bay Area business group floated a trial balloon.