Law and legal issues

Ambac Financial Group, Inc. has agreed to settle with the Internal Revenue Service for $102 million, which will bring it one step closer to completing its reorganization plan.

New York's Nassau County is suing its control board, the Nassau Interim Finance Authority.

The judge overseeing Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy set a hearing May 9 to discuss the schedule for filing a plan of adjustment. The county says it is making headway in the nation's largest Chapter 9 case.

Gov. Tom Corbett has ordered a rebid of an IT contract and reviews of all vendors named in the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission pay-to-play scandal.

The key substantive issues differ in the Stockton, Calif., and Central Falls, R.I., bankruptcy filings, said Theodore Orson, the Chapter 9 attorney for Central Falls.

Now the question is how long will it take Stockton to exit bankruptcy? And how will Stockton reorganize its debts to put the city on a path to fiscal stability?

A group of four city council members, including one from Cleveland, have asked the Ohio Attorney General to launch an investigation into the controversial bond-financed Prairie State Energy Campus that opened last year after cost overruns and delays.

Finance officials for San Bernardino, the southern California city going through bankruptcy proceedings, plan to present a balanced budget that includes future payments to CalPERSg.

Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander issued a cease-and-desist order against the former Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. for alleged fraud in its role as underwriter on $39 million of defaulted revenue bonds issued by a Missouri city for a now abandoned artificial sweetener plant.

San Bernardino, Calif., in bankruptcy proceedings, has hired Orange County-based Urban Futures on a contract basis in lieu of hiring a finance director and filling other vacant finance department positions.

Moody's Investors Service says a reduction of California Employees' Retirement System debts in Stockton's bankruptcy reorganization would have major ramifications for bondholders and California municipalities.

The New York Appellate Court today overturned a summary judgment ruling regarding how MBIA can seek to recover losses from Bank of America Corporation.

Minnesota Attorney General will hold hearings beginning next week to probe South Dakota-based Sanford Health's possible acquisition of Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services.

Bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala., on April 1 continued to suspend payment on outstanding fixed-rate general obligation warrants, relying on the insurer for the payment.

A private foundation linked to the $3 billion bond-funded Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas may have improperly changed its name and procedures in the wake of several investigations of alleged insider deals, according to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott.

A federal judge dismissed the most damaging claims in a civil suit against banks accused of manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate, but experts said it would not impact the market and will likely be appealed.

As baseball season opened, the operator of parking garages at New York's Yankee Stadium fell into default, missing a $6.9 million bond interest payment.

A Federal bankruptcy judge ruled today that Stockton, Calif. is eligible for Chapter 9 protection, rejecting the objections of bond market creditors.

Detroit activists filed a federal lawsuit against the state's new emergency management law Thursday, the same day the new law took effect.

In the latest residential mortgage-backed securities lawsuit, Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. is suing RBS Securities over a $1.15 billion loan securitization.