Washington

Three former bankers at GE Funding Capital Market Services, Inc., convicted of fraud and conspiracy for rigging municipal bond investment bids are out of prison following a Nov. 26 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturning their guilty verdicts.

The sentencing for convicted bid rigger David Rubin, currently scheduled for Dec. 17, may be delayed until January at the request of his defense team.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says its case against former JPMorgan bankers Charles LeCroy and Douglas MacFaddin should go to trial.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Detroit-based Ambassador Capital Management and portfolio manager Derek Oglesby with fraud for investing in risky securities and passing them off to investors, including municipalities, as safe money market funds.

The Missouri Secretary of State Securities Division filed a civil enforcement action against Morgan Keegan accusing the firm of securities fraud in its role as underwriter of $39 million of defaulted bonds issued by Moberly, Mo.

Regulators are closing in on a final Volcker Rule to restrict proprietary trading, dialing up certain requirements related to documentation while providing some flexibility on "market making" activities. This story includes a fully interactive timeline on Volcker's contentious history.

The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors has sent an open letter to Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White insisting the municipal advisor rule the SEC adopted in September will not restrict the flow of information between issuers and other parties to a bond deal.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers may consider creating guidance on how attorneys can reasonably rely on tax certificates, following the false certifications market professionals provided for deals involving investment contracts that came to light in criminal bid-rigging cases.

State and federal investigations of the Beaumont, Texas, Independent School District brought a Moody's Investors Service warnings of a possible downgrade on the district's $405 million of general obligation debt Tuesday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued new educational materials for issuers explaining what information dealers should make public about their contributions to campaigns to get voters to approve bond offerings.