Law and legal issues

A Washington Supreme Court ruling has thrown a wrench into the use of a contingent loan agreements to support bond issues.

Public employee unions said they will go to court to try to block the Contra Costa County retirement system board from implementing anti-spiking provisions

Rhode Island is suing the owner of failed video-game company 38 Studios over a $75 million loan guarantee the state's economic commission provided the company.

Lawyers for three former bankers convicted in May of rigging bids for municipal bond contracts have filed appeal notices with an appellate court. The appeals were filed late last week with the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan by attorneys for Dominick Carollo, Steven E. Goldberg, and Peter Grimm, former employees at General Electric Co. affiliates.

Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners decided to move forward with a plan that is expected to increase sewer system rates for the first time in at least four years.

Former Montgomery, Ala., bond dealer Bill Blount has been moved to a halfway house to transition toward the end of his federal pay-to-play felony sentence for his role in the sale of bankrupt Jefferson County’s defaulted sewer warrants.

The Minnesota Supreme Court released an opinion Wednesday finding that the state’s use of an appropriation pledge to back a proposed tobacco refunding issue does not constitute a “public debt” subject to state limits on such debt.

Voters across Midwestern states face a slew of tax, spending, and bond referendum along with policy questions that pack a fiscal punch including whether Michigan's emergency management should be preserved and the state's ability to raise taxes limited.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System sued Compton, Calif. for missed retirement and healthcare payments totaling $2.6 million.

A judge in Madison County, Ind. last week ruled that Indiana law gives municipalities the right to lay off employees because of economic conditions.

A court hearing on a dispute between Highmark Inc. and West Penn Allegheny Health System Inc. over their failed $475 million merger agreement will continue Thursday in Pittsburgh.

Rhode Island officials, speaking after Moody's Investors Service elevated the bond rating of Central Falls, envision brighter days for the once-bankrupt city.

Four officials of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey received subpoenas on Thursday, seeking information related to last year's toll hikes.

Michigan officials Thursday named Joyce Parker as emergency manager of Allen Park, the latest city to be taken over by the state for fiscal distress.

Underwriters must conduct thorough due-diligence, checking issuers' official statements and continuing disclosure agreements for completeness and accuracy, prior to underwriting their bonds, a Securities and Exchange Commission official warned lawyers here.

Assets of the shuttered, half-built Mamtek US Inc. plant in Moberly Missouri were auctioned Wednesday to help creditors – including holders of $39 million of defaulted revenue bonds – recoup some of their losses.

Scranton, Pa., officials have asked a court to let it borrow an additional $9.75 million, citing the need to plug further unexpected gaps by the end of the year.

Fitch placed the A rating of revenue bonds for Medford, Ore. continuing care retirement community Rogue Valley Manor on negative watch due to the potential impact of a lawsuit.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich has asked the Treasury Department to investigate whether it was appropriate to use Build America Bonds to help finance the construction of a large coal-fired plant known as Prairie State Energy Campus, which has experienced cost overruns and operational problems that are hurting municipalities, electric cooperatives and 2.5 million ratepayers across eight states.

Uncertainty in the muni market is rising as Jefferson County, Ala., appeals a federal judge's decision upholding a portion of the bankruptcy code that has protected bondholders so far.