Law and legal issues

A receiver appointed by Rhode Island to take over the city of Central Falls’ operations moved quickly on his first day Monday, relieving its mayor of his duties and firing an official.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is soliciting public comments through Aug. 9 on a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to change its EMMA site to reflect new materiality standards for continuing disclosures as well as changes to a list of event-based disclosures that borrowers may voluntarily submit to the system.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and 29 other members of Congress have introduced legislation that would prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from stifling state programs that allow localities to sell bonds to finance energy-efficient ­upgrades made by ­homeowners.

CHICAGO — Even with a water rate increase expected to boost revenues, the Xenia Rural Water District still faces possible insolvency as its revenues can’t keep up with repayment of its $140 million of debt, according to a new Iowa state auditor’s report.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined three firms a total of $92,500, mostly for municipal bond rule violations, and barred a former principal of a firm from the market for falsifying investment statements for a widow to make it look like she owned muni bonds when she did not.

CHICAGO — A federal court ruling that lets the Lac du Flambeau tribe off the hook for repayment of $46.6 million of tribal gaming revenue bonds could harm the municipal market as a whole because the ruling undercuts investor rights in bond indentures and confidence in disclosure, the National Federation of Municipal Analysts warns.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Based on settlements recommended by the Securities and Exchange Commission, a federal judge in Alabama has issued permanent injunctions prohibiting future violations of securities laws by Montgomery bond dealer William Blount and his firm, Blount Parrish & Co., and local lobbyist Al LaPierre.

WASHINGTON — Former Southwest Securities Inc. banker John F. Kendrick has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he willfully violated, and caused the firm to violate, Rule G-37 by making significant political contributions to Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 60 to 39 Thursday to approve sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system that will significantly alter the landscape of municipal securities regulation.

A Harrisburg official who has been advocating a potential bankruptcy filing for Pennsylvania’s capital city released an alternative plan Wednesday that involves bondholders taking a potential cut on the $282 million of incinerator debt owed them.

WASHINGTON — Blank Rome LLP has hired three new attorneys for its lobbying shop who are experienced in representing sovereign and municipal governments.

WASHINGTON — California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for effectively killing programs that allow the state’s localities to issue bonds to finance energy-efficient upgrades made by homeowners.

WASHINGTON — Municipal bond analysts worry that issuers increasingly are drawing on bond insurance to temporarily pay for debt service without disclosing the action to investors.

CHICAGO — New procurement rules aimed at curbing pay to play in contracts awarded by Illinois, its agencies, and its public universities could dampen the flow of creative financing ideas from the public finance community, some market participants believe.

DALLAS — A Hobbs, N.M., apartment complex that defaulted on revenue bonds issued by the Southeastern New Mexico Affordable Housing Corp. will go on the market for a second time after bondholders rejected a short sale last fall, officials said.

When Burlington several years ago set out to build a municipal telecom network, it envisioned a self-sustaining system providing fiber-optic internet service to residents, business, and government in Vermont’s most populous city.

The Magen David Yeshivah in Brooklyn has received a forbearance from its insurer after failing to meet its financial obligations on a $38.5 million bond issuance.

Arizona Treasurer Dean Martin said he suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination to run for governor late last week to avoid splitting the party as the state fights a federal lawsuit over its new immigration law.

CHICAGO — A developer’s default on $14.1 million of special assessment bonds in Wood County, Ohio, has sparked a dispute between the bond trustee and the county treasurer over the tax-lien sale of the property.

Six state and local groups are urging the Senate to pass an extension to the Build America Bonds program, which they say is critical to governments during this time of unprecedented budgetary strain.