Law and legal issues

Maui County has filed a federal lawsuit against Merrill Lynch, saying the firm misled the county into buying student loan auction-rate securities that became illiquid.

WASHINGTON — Three market groups are moving forward with plans to collaborate on new guidelines to improve the quality of derivatives disclosure and the more timely release of financial information.

SAN FRANCISCO — The massive bankruptcy filing of the developers of the Lake Las Vegas resort may be heading to a resolution this year, with the debtors proposing a Chapter 11 exit plan they say will provide the best outcome for municipal bonds affected in the filing.

CHICAGO — Menasha will seek voter approval in an April 6 referendum to sell its electric utility assets in a deal that would help the Wisconsin city resolve a bondholder lawsuit stemming from its default on $23 million of bond anticipation notes issued for a now-shuttered steam plant.

Oppenheimer & Co. agreed to buy back from clients tens of millions of dollars of auction-rate securities under settlements with two states announced yesterday.The New York-based investment bank was accused by New York and Massachusetts of marketing ARS as safe, liquid alternatives to cash, without explaining the risks.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Daniel Naeh, a former CDR Financial Products Inc. employee living in Israel, pleaded guilty Tuesday for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to guaranteed investment contracts and other municipal finance agreements.

CHICAGO — The financially struggling Clare at Water Tower, an upscale, high-rise senior-living development in downtown Chicago, has reached a preliminary restructuring agreement with a group of bondholders and its letter of credit bank that, if approved, would buy the facility more time to succeed.

BRADENTON, Fla. — A myriad of options, including the use of pension bonds, are being considered in Atlanta, where spending on retirement benefits has soared to 20% of the city’s $523 million annual operating budget and the unfunded liability is now $1.5 billion.

Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday selected Ruden McClosky Smith Schuster & Russell PA to be bond counsel and to perform related legal services related to the development of a planned convention center hotel.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Wednesday afternoon that Daniel Naeh, a former CDR Financial Products Inc. employee who is living in Israel, pleaded guilty Tuesday for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other muni contracts.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is expected to unveil a revised financial regulatory reform bill by the end of the week, but it is not expected to include any changes to the municipal market-related provisions floated in the original version in November.

WASHINGTON — Local government defaults and bankruptcies could be higher this year than the historical norm, but are expected to remain rare, Moody’s ­Investors Service said in a report released yesterday.

A federal judge yesterday reluctantly approved the Securities and Exchange Commission’s $150 million settlement with Bank of America Corp., calling the agreement “better than nothing,” but “half-baked justice at best.”

BRADENTON, Fla. — Former Montgomery, Ala., bond dealer William Blount and lobbyist Albert LaPierre are scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Alabama federal court after pleading guilty to pay-to-play charges related to Jefferson ­County’s troubled sewer debt.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Bond attorneys raised concerns last week that a Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to expedite the filing of continuing disclosure event notices, coupled with the lack of a requirement to make materiality determinations for certain notices, could pose undue burdens on issuers.

In the past seven days, two separate courts in New York rejected MBIA Inc.'s motions to dismiss lawsuits alleging its February 2009 restructuring was an intentionally fraudulent action and a breach of good faith that hurt policyholders.

David Shulman, the former head of municipal securities at UBS AG, has agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle allegations he dumped his personal holdings of student loan auction-rate securities after acquiring inside information.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined five firms a total of $113,000 for municipal and other trade-reporting violations. Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp. received the largest fine for muni bond rule violations: $13,000 for failing to timely report certain information from 200 municipal transactions.

Vestavia Hills City Council president David Carrington has announced he will run for a seat on the Jefferson County Commission that is opening this year.

A bankruptcy judge in Las Vegas is scheduled to hear arguments today over whether or not the Las Vegas Monorail Co. really is an independent nonprofit that is entitled to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.