Washington

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has announced winners of three awards recognizing notable service to the association and the public finance sector to Howard Zucker, Dave Caprera, and Hobby Presley.

Underwriters must conduct thorough due-diligence, checking issuers' official statements and continuing disclosure agreements for completeness and accuracy, prior to underwriting their bonds, a Securities and Exchange Commission official warned lawyers here.

Securities and Exchange Commission officials downplayed the potential for the so-called budget "sequestration" Thursday, but said dealers selling Build America Bonds should inform investors of any potentially risky call provisions.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will be hiring more staff for its office of municipal securities in the coming years, the new director, John Cross, told bond lawyers meeting here.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich has asked the Treasury Department to investigate whether it was appropriate to use Build America Bonds to help finance the construction of a large coal-fired plant known as Prairie State Energy Campus, which has experienced cost overruns and operational problems that are hurting municipalities, electric cooperatives and 2.5 million ratepayers across eight states.

Incoming NABL board president Scott Lilienthal discusses sequestration, the fiscal cliff, the SEC report and other issues the group expects to face in the next 12 months.

The District of Columbia's Chief Financial Officer will hand over nearly three years of internal audits and add a disclosure to the district's most recent debt issuance after a request from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has proposed rule changes designed to both streamline underwriters' submission of new-issue bond information and reduce reporting errors.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman Mary Schapiro criticized the dominant pay model for ratings agencies on Tuesday.

An international proposal that would stipulate the amount of capital banks must hold against assets could discourage banks from buying municipal bonds, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.