Law and legal issues

Texas’ El Paso County Hospital District received a two-notch Standard & Poor’s downgrade in the wake of the district’s legal settlement with an affiliated children’s hospital that’s in bankruptcy.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an emergency freeze of the assets of an Atlanta-based businessman and filed a lawsuit charging him and his associates with fraud for misusing investor proceeds that were intended to be used to purchase and renovate senior living facilities.

Cook County’s plan to veer from state law and make an actuarial-based pension contribution offers a “novel approach” that could shape public pension funding debate in Illinois, Fitch Ratings says.

A Rhode Island oversight panel voted to ask House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello to subpoena former baseball star Curt Schilling over the 38 Studios debacle.

The municipal market’s buyside views Chicago’s pension reform appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court as a longshot and wants the city to come up with an alternative.

Jefferson County, Ala.,’s 2013 sewer system debt remains at junk levels even though the county’s post-bankruptcy plan is working as intended so far, Fitch said while affirming its double-B ratings.

After amassing nearly $2 billion in unused bonding authority from Louisiana and Florida the past few years, BioNitrogen Holdings Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 3.

The Nov. 10 agreement between the town of Morristown, N.J., and Atlantic Health System on Morristown Medical Center property tax appeals could have a "ripple effect" for no-for-profit hospitals across the U.S., according to Moody's Investors Service.

The fate of Chicago’s overhaul of two of its four pension funds now rests with the seven justices of the Illinois Supreme Court.

A U.S. Court of Appeals bankruptcy panel will hear arguments Thursday from Stockton, Calif. and creditor holdout Franklin Templeton Investments, which is appealing confirmation of the city's plan of adjustment.

Puerto Rico's congressional representative Pedro Pierluisi strongly opposed the idea of the federal government imposing a federal fiscal control board on Puerto Rico, warning it would be "a blatant exercise of colonialism."

Unrated Scranton, Pa., is taking steps to regain the good graces of the capital markets, said its mayor and business administrator.

Puerto Rico said recently that there is no reason to believe that its debt is unconstitutional, but that this issue could arise in legal disputes if there is no “consensual restructuring” of the debt.

The Oregon Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the legality of a bond-financed hotel near the Oregon Convention Center, a project that has been tied up in legal difficulty for years.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Dec. 1 to explore Puerto Rico’s fiscal problems and the potential options that are available to help the island, panel chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, announced Thursday

A second environmental group is suing Florida over spending decisions related to a 2014 constitutional amendment earmarking funds for conservation purposes.

A lengthy battle between a bond trustee and bankrupt Chicago-area hockey arena operator Leafs Hockey Club over $20 million of unrated bonds is nearing an end.

The AAA rating recently assigned to San Diego Unified School District's upcoming general obligation bond issuance could set a precedent for other school district ratings throughout California, according to Fitch Ratings in a report.

Investors holding about $27 million of bonds issued for a failed sucralose plant in Moberly, Missouri have reached settlements with the financial firms they sued in state court, weeks after a federal class-action case was settled.

The San Bernardino, Calif. redevelopment successor agency's plan to refund roughly $68 million in tax increment bonds should find an eager market despite the parent city's bankruptcy, says an investment advisor.