Lockyer Says Banker Dues Cost California $1.5 Million

Investment banks billed California an estimated $1.5 million for dues to trade groups, including a municipal-bond lobbying association, since 2005 and will be required to return the money, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer said.

Lockyer ordered 86 firms in the state’s underwriter pool to stop including the dues in their calculation of fees paid out of bond proceeds, Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer, said in an e-mailed statement today.