Washington

The Obama administration is emphasizing the urgency of giving Puerto Rico the right to use a bankruptcy process for its debts.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has released the final version of its set of best practices for state government general obligation bond disclosure, the first part of an ongoing update to a set of recommended best practices from 2001.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has shelved its controversial proposal to ease independence standards to obtain a public investor on its board and will instead establish an investor advisory group.

The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to its money market fund rule that would remove credit ratings references funds use to comply with the rule -- an action many market participants applauded but others said could pose risks..

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White said she will work to make regulatory and other changes to support shortening the settlement cycle for several types of secondary market transactions from three days after a trade date to two days by 2017.

The North Broward Hospital District in Florida will pay the federal government $69.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act, according to the Justice Department.

Securities and Exchange Commission top cop Andrew Ceresney and a Justice Department official warned legislators on Wednesday that a bill to update the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 could hurt their enforcement programs.

Dealer groups oppose a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to provide academics with muni trade and pricing data with anonymous dealer identifiers while researchers contend the new data will add to market transparency.

A federal investigation into loan guarantees made by the Town of Oyster Bay, N.Y. could impact the credit rating of New York's fourth largest township, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Four broker-dealer firms have been ordered by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to pay a total of $67,500 for municipal trade reporting and related violations.