Law and legal issues

BRADENTON, Fla. - Jefferson County, Ala., commissioners yesterday approved forbearance agreements for swaps covering most of the county's $3.2 billion of sewer debt.

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson yesterday threw cold water on the efforts of municipal market participants to convince the Treasury to purchase troubled state and local debt or to assist transit agencies facing millions in exposure to the beleaguered insurance giant American International Group Inc.

WASHINGTON - A top Republican lobbyist for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is stepping down from his role at the industry group but will remain on staff as a "strategic consultant."

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Jefferson County, Ala., Commission today welcomes a new Democrat to the dais who will be asked, as part of his first day of voting, to approve swap forbearance agreements delaying payments until Dec. 8.

WASHINGTON - As federal officials and lawmakers move forward with initiatives to address the financial crisis and regulatory reform, Ron Stack, the new chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, wants to make sure they don't forget about the muni market.

Dan DeSimone, director of the federal relations office of the National Association of State Treasurers Office in Washington, D.C., left the group on Friday, a spokeswoman confirmed yesterday.

The next Congress will make overhauling the financial regulatory system one of its first priorities, Sen. Charles Schumer yesterday told financial executives.

WASHINGTON - The Department of Education plans to provide liquidity support to the student loan market through a new commercial paper conduit facility for the purchase of loans made as far back as October 2003, and also plans to renew a high-profile student loan liquidity program for an additional academic year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal judge yesterday set Jan. 30 to hear arguments on a series of motions pending in the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Larry Langford, Alabama bond dealer William Blount, and his firm Blount Parrish & Co., as well as lobbyist Albert LaPierre.

CHICAGO - As General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. reported grim third-quarter earnings Friday, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm warned that the state, just a few weeks into its fiscal year, already could face a deficit reaching up to $600 million.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to delay by roughly six months, to July 1, 2009, the implementation of the proposed continuing disclosure component of EMMA so that muni issuers and others will have more time to familiarize themselves with it through a pilot system.

Sen. Christopher Dodd said yesterday that he will remain chairman of the Senate Banking Committee so he can play a key role in the financial crisis - "the central issue of our day" - and called for the federal government to provide assistance to state and local governments that have been hurt by the crisis.

CHICAGO - Five southeastern Wisconsin school districts that last month filed a lawsuit against Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and the Royal Bank of Canada - alleging they misrepresented the safety of an investment transaction involving synthetic collateralized debt obligations - will fight efforts to move the case to federal court.

WASHINGTON - Just one day after his historic win to become the nation's 44th president, Barack Obama was choosing staff, setting up a transition team, and preparing to work with the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve on the financial crisis, according to sources and public statements.

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democratic leaders said yesterday that they will push for a second economic stimulus package when Congress returns to Washington for a lame-duck session on Nov. 17.

WASHINGTON - More than three years after its creation, the Department of Transportation's $15 billion private-activity bond program designed to help states and localities finance infrastructure through private investment - a program that DOT officials want to expand - has resulted in only one $589 million transaction.

DALLAS - The Denver suburb of Aurora's $426 million Prairie Waters Project that reclaims wastewater from the South Platte River has won acclaim for easing the threat of chronic drought in the rapidly growing region.

DALLAS - A proposed Arizona constitutional amendment that gives non-voters potential veto power over state spending initiatives could also threaten local bond proposals, opponents say.

WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia on Friday filed suit against Bank of America NA in D.C. Superior Court seeking $105 million of damages after the bank cashed fraudulent tax checks in a scam that cost the district $48 million over 20 years.

WASHINGTON - The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday reversed a lower court and ruled that the Glebe, an upscale continuing-care retirement community near Roanoke, is exempt from local taxes, a decision that eases the facility's concerns of owing hundreds of thousands of back taxes and improves its finances.