Law and legal issues

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.

A DuPage County Circuit Court judge last week handed over the title of St. Johannes Cemetery to Chicago, advancing the city's effort to clear a path for one of several new runways planned as part of the $8 billion expansion of O'Hare International Airport.

The Internal Revenue Service has decided not to alter the tax-exempt status of $57.5 million of bonds issued in 2003 by the Illinois Health Facilities Authority, now the Illinois Finance Authority, after completing an audit that focused on two former board members who pleaded guilty to defrauding Rosalind Franklin University and orchestrating kickback schemes, the issuer disclosed last week.

WASHINGTON — The South Carolina-based issuer of $322.5 million of toll road revenue bonds that are in default appears to be preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to a disclosure ­document.

DALLAS — One of the largest public-private partnerships in Texas involves transmission of electricity produced by wind.

Cash-strapped Harrisburg, Pa., could miss a March 1 debt-service payment of $2 million on debt backed by Pennsylvania’s capital city, according to city Controller Dan Miller.

The Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority plans to sell $174 million of bonds on behalf of the New York county in a deal announced Friday.

DALLAS — The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday said it would reject a request from a coalition of school districts to reopen a lawsuit that led to increased state support of public education.

MBIA Inc.’s attempt to shield its public finance business from its more toxic structured finance guarantees hit a roadblock Thursday as the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit charging MBIA with fraud and breach of good faith.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is defending its antifraud authority over certain interest-rate swaps and urging a federal judge not to dismiss its suit against two former JPMorgan bankers for allegedly making more than $8 million in undisclosed payments to secure swaps for the firm with Jefferson County, Ala.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Louisiana federal Judge Kurt Engelhardt has agreed to hear oral arguments April 21 from PaineWebber Capital Services Inc. and UBS Securities LLC on their motion to dismiss a suit filed by New Orleans involving the failed remarketing of its firefighters’ pension bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department yesterday announced that it had allocated the second and final $1 billion tranche of tribal economic development bonds to 76 Indian tribes across the nation.

Vallejo, which declared bankruptcy in May 2008 and has cut more than a third of its police force since 2005, is struggling with a violent crime wave as it considers cutting its police force further to balance a budget that is still in deficit.

SAN FRANCISCO — Two former San Bernardino County, Calif., officials were charged with bribery, conspiracy and corruption yesterday for their role in helping to approve a lawsuit settlement that was paid with $103.8 million of judgment obligation bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s net assets fell to $26.39 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009, down $1.65 million from the previous year as new underwriting assessment fees fell dramatically, according to an audited financial statement and annual report expected to be released by the board today.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in New York Monday said he will not decide until Feb. 19 whether to accept the Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Bank of America over allegations it misled shareholders and the federal government about its merger with Merrill Lynch.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to hire outside municipal market experts, including traders and investment bankers, to work in its reconstituted municipal and public pension fund enforcement unit, Elaine Greenberg said Friday.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, who said Friday he plans to move forward with a massive financial regulatory reform bill without Republican support, told federal regulators that he wants the bill to include language that would give the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board oversight of pension fund placement agents.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond Lawyers yesterday joined the growing chorus of muni market groups pushing for an extension beyond the end of 2010 of two provisions in last year’s $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act allowing banks to purchase tax-exempt bonds from issuers that otherwise might not have access to the market.

Vallejo could wrap up the biggest municipal bankruptcy since Orange County, Calif., by the end of the summer.