Law and legal issues

Dealers would have to submit bidding information for auction-rate securities in a set of individual data points rather than in document form under changes the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board submitted Friday on a proposed expansion of its transparency system for ARS and variable-rate demand obligations.

Holders of first-tier debt issued for the Las Vegas Monorail have nothing to show for their most recent scheduled interest payment.

Investors and the state of South Carolina are haggling over who will get a bigger share of revenue from a bankrupt bond-funded toll road.

CHICAGO — Minnesota-based law firm Briggs and Morgan PA, one of the state’s top bond counsels, has hired attorney Catherine ­Courtney.

The Georgetown Special Taxing District in Connecticut received a forbearance last week on $1.5 million of tax anticipation notes after failing to pay them on time.

WASHINGTON — This month is a significant milestone for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, marking its one-year anniversary as the sole official repository for muni issuers’ continuing disclosure documents.

The New York Stock Exchange once again notified Ambac Financial Group that it could be de-listed for failing to maintain a minimum share value of $1.00 for a 30-day period, the company announced Tuesday.

The insolvent city of Central Falls repaid $4.1 million of tax anticipation notes on time last week, Rhode Island officials said.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California this week selected a group led by Meridiam Infrastructure to be its preferred partner for the state’s first public-private partnership for a courthouse.

Harrisburg Friday may select qualified financial advisers to participate in a request for proposal process, as Pennsylvania’s capital city looks towards addressing $282 million of outstanding incinerator debt that is in technical ­default.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously adopted rules designed to prevent investment advisers from making political contributions to elected officials to obtain business from state and local pension funds, investment pools and college savings accounts.

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman’s appeal of his corruption conviction will be reviewed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals based on last week’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court narrowing the focus of the “honest services fraud” criminal statute.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators would spend months, if not years, implementing the sweeping changes to the municipal market that were outlined in the financial regulatory reform legislation finalized by House and Senate negotiators late last week.

New York State will pick up the debt-service tab for North General Hospital, which plans to file for bankruptcy, officials said Monday.

The mayor of Allentown, Pa., says he’s been sitting down with union leaders to rework its labor agreements in a bid to keep the financially troubled city out of Act 47 — the state’s distressed municipalities program.

WASHINGTON — Financial regulatory reform legislation that House and Senate lawmakers hope will be ready for President Obama's signature at the end of the week is expected to authorize sweeping changes to the way the municipal market is regulated.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last week ruled in favor of Prince George's County, Md., and its 2008 plan to furlough about 5,900 workers, overturning a lower federal court ruling and restoring a savings opportunity for the triple-A rated county.

BRADENTON, Fla. — An Alabama judge has set Sept. 7 for trial to begin in the Bank of New York Mellon's quest to obtain a receiver to take over control of Jefferson County's sewer system, which is saddled with close to $3.2 billion of troubled variable- and auction-rate debt.

The New York Court of Appeals ruled last week that the state can seize private property on behalf of Columbia University, which wants to expand its campus into Harlem.

Morgan Stanley will pay $42.5 million to Massachusetts' pension funds and its general fund in a settlement agreement regarding the financing and securitization of subprime loans in the state.