Bankruptcy

BRADENTON, Fla. - Alabama enters 2009 still under the cloud created by Jefferson County's lingering sewer debt crisis. A lot is riding on what happens in the first half of the year.

DALLAS - Two former operatives for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson are under scrutiny in a federal investigation into the hiring of a swap adviser for a $1.5 billion bond program that served as the governor's signature economic development program.

CHICAGO - Illinois Lieut. Gov. Pat Quinn - who would take the reins of state government if the General Assembly acts to remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich - yesterday named a former federal prosecutor to lead an ethics panel with the charge of overhauling state government.

DALLAS - CDR Financial Products stepped up its defense of its role in a high-profile New Mexico bond program yesterday after Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew from consideration as secretary of commerce for Barack Obama, citing a grand jury investigation of the deal.

SAN FRANCISCO - Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts - a bankrupt Napa, Calif., nonprofit with about $77 million of outstanding tax-exempt bonds - has abandoned its attempt to secure debtor-in-possession financing, signaling that the so-called wine shrine has closed its doors for good.

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials may postpone a vote on proposed toll hikes to give incoming Transportation Secretary Jim Aloisi time to review the agency's books.

WASHINGTON - A top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is urging Congress to draft the stimulus package to include a "general revenue sharing" program for state and local governments that would provide aid to municipalities facing budget shortfalls as a result of the economic crisis.

WASHINGTON - Next year is fraught with uncertainty for municipal and other securities markets as a new chairman takes over the helm of the Securities and Exchange Commission and financial services regulatory reform takes center stage in Washington.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama formally announced yesterday that he will nominate Mary Schapiro, the chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, to become chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Supreme Court yesterday shot down Attorney General Lisa Madigan's requests that the court declare Gov. Rod Blagojevich unfit to govern following his arrest last week on federal corruption charges.

DALLAS - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating a 2002 bond sale by the University of New Mexico as part of an investigation into possible violations of securities laws, officials said.

CHICAGO - The fiscal costs of the political turmoil resulting from Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest last week on federal corruption charges continued to mount this week as Fitch Ratings downgraded the state, in part due to concerns the scandal might impede its ability to resolve a $2 billion deficit.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority yesterday detailed a special arbitration procedure for investors who suffered "consequential damages," such as losses that resulted from their inability to liquidate their auction-rate securities for cash.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Facing the prospect of increasing sewer rates nearly 400% to pay debt service, the Jefferson County, Ala., Commission yesterday unanimously voted to suspend automatic sewer rate increases.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court yesterday removed a legal barrier to tobacco lawsuits filed over the allegedly deceptive marketing of "light" cigarettes, allowing for suits based on certain state deceptive practice laws to move forward.

WASHINGTON - Justice Department officials, a spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, and representatives of President-elect Barack Obama yesterday declined to comment on reports that a federal grand jury in Albuquerque is investigating whether swap adviser CDR Financial Products Inc. made payments to political action committees run by Richardson in exchange for state municipal derivatives business.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has hired Margaret "Peg" Henry as an associate general counsel.

WASHINGTON - In a potentially precedent-setting case that will determine how municipal and other derivatives are treated in bankruptcy proceedings, a federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan is to hold a hearing tomorrow to determine the fate of some 930,000 municipal and other derivatives contracts involving Lehman Brothers, which made the largest bankruptcy filing in history on Sept. 15.

CHICAGO - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan on Friday asked the the state's Supreme Court to either temporarily remove Gov. Rod Blagojevich from office or strip him of his power to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, act on legislation, or award state contracts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday announced final auction-rate securities settlements with Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and UBS AG that will provide $30 billion of liquidity to investors who have been stuck holding illiquid ARS since the market froze in February.