Law and legal issues

Washington Treasurer James McIntire Tuesday announced a settlement agreement with State Street Bank that calls for it to pay $11.7 million to the state’s pension systems.

Responding to the fallout from the revelations of exorbitant salaries in the Southern California city of Bell, state Controller John Chiang Monday announced a new website listing the salary, pension benefits, and other compensation for more than 594,000 city and county employees throughout the state.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Securities and Exchange Commission crossed a new threshold this week by securing financial penalties against individual city officials in a municipal bond fraud case.

CHICAGO — The board of the Detroit Medical Center voted to extend the deadline for its $1.5 billion acquisition by a for-profit Tennessee health care company to Dec. 31, saying the parties were still waiting for state regulatory approvals.

SAN ANTONIO — The Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed the municipal securities field hearing it planned to hold in Chicago on Nov. 16.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Vallejo, Calif., appointed a new interim city manager this week.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond ­Lawyers’ new president as of Wednesday night, John ­McNally, appears to be the right man at the right place and the right time, according to the group’s members.

Pittsburgh’s City Council Tuesday approved a $220 million Pittsburgh Parking Authority bond deal that aims to prevent a state takeover of the city’s pension system.

The National Association of Bond ­Lawyers announced Tuesday that it has hired Linda Holtz Wyman as its chief operating officer.

DALLAS — San Antonio’s CPS Energy is planning its fourth and largest issue of Build America Bonds on Thursday as it faces an Internal Revenue Service audit of a previous BAB deal.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to soon file rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would eliminate the current practice of allowing a dealer-financial adviser to resign as FA and then underwrite the same muni securities transaction.

The Travis County district attorney’s office said last week it closed the case on allegations of political influence on investment decisions by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas earlier this year after an investigation found no criminal violations.

WASHINGTON — Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to require issuers to provide investors with more information about loans underlying asset-backed securities would apply to municipal bonds and could have far-reaching effects on the muni market, several lawyers said last week.

WASHINGTON — Market participants are pushing back against attempts by Standard & Poor’s to rate municipal bond deals on the condition that the issuer agrees to accept both greater liability if the rating turns out to be faulty and an ongoing obligation to inform it of any material change to any information provided to the agency.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A civil jury in Sacramento rejected professional negligence claims last week against attorneys and a pension consultant involved in setting up a controversial pension system for Sacramento City Unified School District administrators.

Pittsburgh’s City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a $220 million borrowing plan for the Pittsburgh Parking Authority that would help keep the city’s pension system out of state control.

Housing developer AvalonBay Communities Inc. and partners will pay $2.2 million to settle a two-year-old discrimination case brought by the U.S. Justice Department regarding a bond-financed multifamily project in New York City.

WASHINGTON — As the majority-public Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board formally meets for the first time Wednesday through the end of the week, market participants are questioning whether some of its public representatives are really independent from regulated dealers and advisers.

The hassles associated with Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcies will suppress the number of filings, despite municipal revenues still being well below pre-recession levels, ­experts say.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a distribution plan allowing ­Jefferson County, Ala., to receive a $25 million disgorgement and civil penalty that ­JPMorgan paid into a “fair” fund to compensate harmed investors and issuers.