The mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, and two of his friends were yesterday charged by US regulators in connection with an undisclosed payment scheme related to $6.4bn (€4bn, $3.2bn) of municipal bond and swap deals.

In a civil complaint filed yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Larry Langford, the mayor, received more than $156,000 in cash and benefits from a broker hired to arrange bond offerings and swap agreements on behalf of Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located.