Washington

The Internal Revenue Service has issued a favorable but limited private-letter ruling concluding a total return swap entered into between a borrower and a bank at the same time the underlying tax-exempt bonds were sold is “not an abusive arbitrage device,” tax lawyers said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's rule 15c2-12 governing continuing disclosure of issuer financial information is outdated and could be streamlined to reduce the regulatory burden for issuers and underwriters, bond lawyers and underwriters told the SEC.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will discuss municipal advisor qualification examinations, as well as comments on proposals restricting MA gift giving and requiring dealers to disclose reference prices on confirmation sheets at its quarterly meeting in Alexandria, Va., next week.

Dealers want the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to withdraw a proposed rule that would require dealers acting as principals to disclose to customers on their confirmations a "reference price" of the same security traded that same day, urging enhancements to existing transparency systems as an alternative.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct a review of the disclosure requirements in the SEC's Rule 15c2-12, and to consider requiring disclosure of non-bond debt such as bank loans.

The Government Finance Officers Association is levelling strong criticism at Moody's Investors Service for failing to provide its credit ratings to EMMA and urging the agency to do so.

Syncora Investment Holdings, a wholly owned subsidiary of Syncora Guarantee, Inc., has purchased a majority stake in the independent derivatives advisory firm, Swap Financial Group.

Bondholders will learn later this month how much they stand to recoup from a settlement that ended a trial accusing Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. of misleading them on a bond deal that soured after the failure of an artificial sweetener plant project in Moberly, Mo.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined and censured New York-based Gates Capital Corporation $25,000 for failing to report variable rate demand obligation interest rate resets on time.

A settlement was announced Wednesday to end a federal civil trial stemming from a bond default triggered by the collapse of an artificial sweetener plant project in Moberly, Mo; the former Morgan Keegan & Co. Inc. was among the defendants.