McClatchy's Sacramento Bee:

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District sued Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and 45 other financial firms Thursday in Sacramento federal court for allegedly rigging bids in bond-derivatives markets and defrauding the utility.

SMUD joined at least six city and county governments in California that already have filed similar lawsuits arising from a federal investigation made public in 2006. Many other public entities around the country have joined in lawsuits seeking class-action status.

SMUD's suit – like those filed elsewhere – alleges that brokers, banks and insurance companies agreed to fix bids on municipal derivative contracts so public entities received lower rates of return than they would have in a truly competitive market.

The nation's municipal bond market is so large – roughly $2.6 trillion – that the total sums involved in the broader case could be huge.

"Even a fairly small difference in the funding cost would be an enormous amount of money," said Craig McCann, an economist with the Securities Litigation and Consulting Group, based in the Washington, D.C., area.

Good. Claw back what you can, however you can.