Bankruptcy

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Diego City Council yesterday voted not to hire lawyers to explore a Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined four firms and one broker a total of $376,500 for municipal securities and other violations in disciplinary actions released yesterday.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Mateo County, Calif., which lost $155 million after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy in September, filed a lawsuit last week targeting the failed firm's executives and auditor.

Three cities appealed on Friday to the Treasury Department for assistance under its $700 billion financial rescue plan authority, while airports continued their push for federal legislative help to make private-activity bonds more accessible for financing projects.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal court will hear arguments beginning at 9 a.m. Central Time today over whether Jefferson County, Ala.'s financially troubled sewer system should be placed in receivership.

BRADENTON, Fla. - An Alabama Supreme Court ruling and an amendment to the state's constitution could prevent Jefferson County's bond insurers from getting a receiver appointed to oversee the county's financially ailing sewer system, a Denver attorney believes.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners yesterday approved forbearance agreements for swaps covering most of the county's $3.2 billion of sewer debt.

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson yesterday threw cold water on the efforts of municipal market participants to convince the Treasury to purchase troubled state and local debt or to assist transit agencies facing millions in exposure to the beleaguered insurance giant American International Group Inc.

WASHINGTON - A top Republican lobbyist for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is stepping down from his role at the industry group but will remain on staff as a "strategic consultant."

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Jefferson County, Ala., Commission today welcomes a new Democrat to the dais who will be asked, as part of his first day of voting, to approve swap forbearance agreements delaying payments until Dec. 8.

WASHINGTON - As federal officials and lawmakers move forward with initiatives to address the financial crisis and regulatory reform, Ron Stack, the new chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, wants to make sure they don't forget about the muni market.

Dan DeSimone, director of the federal relations office of the National Association of State Treasurers Office in Washington, D.C., left the group on Friday, a spokeswoman confirmed yesterday.

The next Congress will make overhauling the financial regulatory system one of its first priorities, Sen. Charles Schumer yesterday told financial executives.

WASHINGTON - The Department of Education plans to provide liquidity support to the student loan market through a new commercial paper conduit facility for the purchase of loans made as far back as October 2003, and also plans to renew a high-profile student loan liquidity program for an additional academic year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal judge yesterday set Jan. 30 to hear arguments on a series of motions pending in the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Larry Langford, Alabama bond dealer William Blount, and his firm Blount Parrish & Co., as well as lobbyist Albert LaPierre.

CHICAGO - As General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reported grim third-quarter earnings Friday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm warned that the state, just a few weeks into its fiscal year, already could face a deficit reaching up to $600 million.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to delay by roughly six months, to July 1, 2009, the implementation of the proposed continuing disclosure component of EMMA so that muni issuers and others will have more time to familiarize themselves with it through a pilot system.

Sen. Christopher Dodd said yesterday that he will remain chairman of the Senate Banking Committee so he can play a key role in the financial crisis - "the central issue of our day" - and called for the federal government to provide assistance to state and local governments that have been hurt by the crisis.

CHICAGO - Five southeastern Wisconsin school districts that last month filed a lawsuit against Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and the Royal Bank of Canada - alleging they misrepresented the safety of an investment transaction involving synthetic collateralized debt obligations - will fight efforts to move the case to federal court.

WASHINGTON - Just one day after his historic win to become the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama was choosing staff, setting up a transition team, and preparing to work with the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve on the financial crisis, according to sources and public statements.