Law and legal issues

The SEC wants a Puerto Rico federal court to agree that Jose Ramirez, a former UBS Puerto Rico employee, engaged in a scheme to defraud investors in closed-end funds with large investments in Puerto Rico bonds.

All Aboard Florida said it anticipates launching its Brightline-branded private passenger train service between Miami and West Palm Beach in September, following an introductory roll-out phase.

Central Falls, R.I., nearly five years after filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, has an investment-grade bond rating again.

Sports industry consultant Dave Howard will lead Florida’s privately owned passenger train project as Fortress Investment Group explores expanding All Aboard Florida’s Brightline-branded service to other states.

Two Illinois-based not-for-profit healthcare systems dropped their merger plans Tuesday following a court ruling that favored the Federal Trade Commission in its efforts to block the union.

A guilty plea from Aaron Troodler, the former executive director of the Ramapo Local Development Corp., for criminal securities fraud means he could face a maximum of 25 years in prison.

The Glades Correctional Development Corp. in south-central Florida shorted its March 1 debt-service payment, the trustee said in a notice, as the date for a taxable bond exchange approaches due to an IRS ruling.

Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva, who occupied city hall during much of the city’s bankruptcy, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport Sunday and stands accused of embezzling money from a nonprofit children’s organization.

A flurry of filings are due over the next month as Chicago Public Schools seeks a ruling by May 1 on its request to block the distribution of state funding under current formulas.

Eight Scranton taxpayers have filed a mandamus suit against the city, saying it has been collecting taxes above the legal limit Pennsylvania has established.

Amid a two-year budget shortfall of nearly $800 million, Kansas lawmakers must increase funding for public schools, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. has gone to federal court seeking the keys to Buena Vista, Virginia’s city hall and compensatory damages.

Atlantic City’s $72 million tax settlement with the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is a credit positive for the distressed gambling hub that produced “considerable” savings, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. has gone to federal court seeking the keys to Buena Vista, Virginia’s city hall and compensatory damages after the city defaulted on ACA-wrapped debt that financed a golf course.

A struggling Indiana highway public-private partnership may have turned a corner.

Chicago Public Schools is warning that without state help or court intervention a $129 million shortfall may force it to end the school year early.

Credit concerns are mounting over the financial stability of Toshiba Co., parent of the company building partly municipal bond-financed nuclear units in South Carolina and Georgia.

A judge in Lackawanna County, Pa., cleared distressed city Scranton to triple its local services tax.

Senior holders of Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. (COFINA) bonds filed a motion Wednesday to become involved in a court case that pits their interests against those of the commonwealth’s general obligation bond holders.

Atlantic City is planning to issue $72 million in bonds to pay for its tax settlement with the Borgata casino.