Law and legal issues

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday charged a Rhode Island agency, its underwriter, and three individuals associated with $75 million of 2010 bonds for a startup video game company with defrauding investors by not revealing the complete financial status of the company or the extent of the compensation arrangement with the underwriter.

The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation filed a lawsuit against Connecticut, asserting a casino law is unconstitutional.

House Natural Resources Committee chair Rob Bishop, R-Utah, visited Puerto Rico Friday as part of a multi-day trip to meet with commonwealth officials and groups as Congress continues to debate a reasonable solution for the territory’s fiscal problems.

Water contamination-related lawsuits filed in Chicago and Flint, Mich. stand to influence the sector nationally as the cases draw more scrutiny to the dangers associated with older lead pipe-based systems, Fitch Rating says in a new report.

The trustee for Port St. Lucie, Fla.’s $64 million of bonds to finance the defunct Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute questioned whether the city will honor its guarantee to pay debt service, although the city attorney said it will make good on the promise.

The State Highway 130 Concession Company led by toll road developer Cintra will try to reorganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy after revenues from the $1.35 billion project fell far short of projections.

An investment banker hired as an expert witness in lawsuits challenging All Aboard Florida’s passenger train service said tax-exempt financing is critical to funding the $3.5 billion project, although the private company says that’s not true.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla this week bristled at a deadline to provide information to the U.S. Congress, while a candidate to succeed the governor sent an unsolicited response to the information request.

To address the lack of clarity of chapter 9 and to root it in municipal realities, attorney David Dubrow of Arent Fox LLP lists the top five critical changes that should be made to protect the capital markets.

Experts and Puerto Rican lawmakers are encouraging Congress and commonwealth officials to include fiscal responsibility laws in any legislative package designed to help the island.

Ferguson, Mo.’s already junk-level rating was placed on review for downgrade because of threats to the city's solvency after it rejected a negotiated consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department for the tactics of its police department.

Unless the United States Congress acts to modify Puerto Rico’s required debt payments, Puerto Rico won’t make the full May bond payment, Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder officially placed retired bankruptcy judge Steven Rhodes in charge of the proposed Detroit Public Schools restructuring, giving him the new title of “transition manager.”

The North Broward Hospital District in Florida saw Moody’s Investors Service drop its bond ratings three notches to Baa2 amid a severe decline in revenue and new probes into its operations.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's veto of scheduled contributions to the state's pension fund won't be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, providing short-term budget relief but leaving the state's pensions underfunded.

Falling tax assessments on Energy Future Holdings power plants could strain local budgets in six Texas counties as the company tries to emerge from the nation's largest corporate bankruptcy.

The retired judge who presided over the city of Detroit’s Chapter 9 bankruptcy case has been called upon to play a key role in the restructuring of Detroit Public Schools.

A new state legislative document showing that New Jersey can take control of Atlantic City finances under existing law highlights a plan that would prove more beneficial than a takeover bill lawmakers are weighing, Mayor Donald Guardian said.

Legislators are coalescing around a federal oversight authority for Puerto Rico that could take concerns over the commonwealth’s debt, pension, and economic crises and forge unique solutions using congressionally approved oversight and restructuring capabilities.

New Jersey can seize control of Atlantic's City finances under existing state law even absent passage of a takeover bill, according to a new memo.