Bonds

Investors should be aware of risks that Build America Bonds pose if called under an extraordinary redemption provision, as many of these could result in losses, especially if the bonds were purchased at a premium,the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board warned Friday. That comes amid expectations that issuers will redeem $20 to $30 billion in BABs

On Thursday the Governmental Accounting Standards Board requested feedback via a survey designed to aid the board’s tinkering with standards and disclosures regarding infrastructure and capital assets.   “We would like feedback from users of governmental financial statements on what information would have a meaningful effect (more than ‘nice to know’) on their analyses for decision making or assessment

The California Treasurer’s office will relaunch its DebtWatch website on May 1, offering a more user-friendly format with vastly more data than the original 2015 version. The website’s software will allow investors, issuers and taxpayers to access all the data the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission gathers on bond issuance to allow them to

Municipals held steady Friday ahead of a sizable $7 billion, new-issue slate with a mix of credits across the spectrum, from healthcare to housing to toll roads and bellwether general obligation issuers. U.S. Treasuries improved across the curve while equities rebounded after another volatile week across markets. “Bond market investors are all wishing that April was behind us as they

Collin Teague has joined Siebert Williams Shank & Co. as a managing director in the company’s public finance group in New York, the firm announced Thursday. Teague was most recently an executive director in the municipal securities department at Morgan Stanley. “Collin joining us is further evidence of our commitment to growing our public finance

Municipals saw losses Thursday following U.S. Treasuries to higher yields, while equities sold off after GDP growth slowed in the first quarter. While growth slowed, inflation was hotter, said ING Chief International Economist James Knightley, as the core PCE deflator rose 3.7% on an annualized basis, three-tenths of a point higher than expected. “Unsurprisingly Treasury yields

In a first-of-its-kind transaction, the city of Quincy, Massachusetts, issued $10 million of tax-exempt bonds using blockchain technology, taking the first step in what those involved in the transaction say could be a transformation of the municipal bond market. “The city of Quincy has invested in its innovation economy over the past number of years

The California Supreme Court has granted review of a case challenging retirement reforms state lawmakers approved 11 years ago, marking a return of pension spiking questions to the high court for the first time since a 2020 ruling on an Alameda County case. The new case — Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association v. Criminal Justice

Chicago’s City Council on Friday approved the issuance of $1.25 billion of bonds to fund affordable housing and economic development programs after debating the measure for the past month. Rather than raising property taxes, the city will let about 45 tax increment financing districts expire and, once the tax revenue from those districts returns to

Moody’s Ratings on Monday revised Illinois’ outlook to positive from stable. The rating agency also affirmed the state’s A3 issuer rating and the A3 rating on Illinois’ general obligation debt and Build Illinois sales tax bonds. It assigned a rating of A3 to $1.8 billion of forthcoming Illinois GO bonds. The new bonds include $250

Local government officials in Texas are increasingly feeling the sting of 2021 state laws that banned big banks from underwriting municipal bonds for “boycotting” or “discriminating” against the fossil fuel or firearm industries. Several aired their grievances at The Bond Buyer’s Texas Public Finance conference in Austin last week, noting the impact of the laws,

Fitch Ratings affirmed both Miami Jewish Health Systems and Subsidiaries long-term issuer default ratings and the the city of Miami Health Facilities Authority’s $41 million of Series 2017 revenue bonds issued by on behalf of MJHS at speculative-grade BB-plus. The rating outlook on both is negative, Fitch said. “The affirmation reflects good growth in the

The devil is in the details and, so far, the details are few and far between in the late once again New York State budget. Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a conceptual agreement with state lawmakers on the $237 billion fiscal 2025 budget. “Based on a preliminary assessment of the negotiated changes to the

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has approved a request for comment for amendments to its Form A-12 under its registration rule A-12, which would collect information on associated persons from bank dealers for display on MSRB.org. That step was approved during the MSRB’s second quarter meeting that concluded Thursday. The meeting also discussed a bevy

Florida’s Brightline passenger train has added a chunk of unrated tax-exempt paper to an extensive debt restructuring that may price in the coming days, according to investors. Price talk Friday for the paper hovered between 11% and 15%, said an investor who is watching the deal. The bonds are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

A contentious rule proposal has a host of broker-dealer and investment firms calling for a rewrite as the effects on the municipal bond market portend calamity.  “Overall, we recommend that the rules in general be reconsidered and ideally rewritten,” said Susan Joyce, head of muni trading & FI market structure, AllianceBernstein. “We definitely see a

Improved finances brought Los Angeles Unified School District upgrades from two ratings agencies as it heads to market April 24 with a $2.98 billion Build America Bonds redemption and general obligation bond refunding. The upgrades affect roughly $11 billion in outstanding GOULT bonds and $472 million in outstanding COPs. The school district is the third

A whopping $13 billion new-issue calendar awaits investors for the final full week of April in what has been a challenging month as macroeconomic data, Federal Reserve policy uncertainty and geopolitical turmoil have caused nearly daily mood swings in all markets. Triple-A yields were little changed Friday ahead of the larger calendar while U.S. Treasuries

California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport has embarked on a $1.3 billion project to replace its dowdy and arguably obsolete passenger terminal with a safer, more comfortable and contemporary one. Paying for the project, which broke ground in January, will add substantial debt to the balance sheet of an airport that hadn’t issued bonds since 2015. The

Municipal bond mutual funds saw the first large outflows of 2024, marking tax-deadline selling pressure coinciding with higher rates and volatile U.S. Treasury market moves. LSEG Lipper reported $1.47 billion of outflows from municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending April 17, “as higher rates and tax liabilities drove outflows from both [exchange-traded funds]