Bonds

Recent Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions signal that regulators are widening their net to charge more types of municipal market participants as so-called gatekeepers against misconduct. So said panelists Thursday at the National Association of Bond Lawyer’s annual conference in Chicago. The SEC’s enforcement division and Public Finance Abuse Unit activities are “reaching all

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said the U.S. central bank is close to wrapping up its aggressive tightening campaign if the economy evolves as expected. “Regardless of the decision made at our next meeting, if the economy evolves as anticipated, in my view, we are likely near or at a holding point

The Power Authority of the State of New York is heading into the municipal bond market next week with a $750.975 million issuance of green bonds. Goldman Sachs as senior manager is set to price the Series 2023A tax-exempt transmission project green revenue bonds on Tuesday after a one-day retail order period. Smart Path Connect is a part

The stalemate that has stymied Congress via the House’s inability to pick a new Speaker has turned months of slow progress on several muni-related legislation to a full stop, though two key agency reauthorizations and a backlog of appropriations could force things to start moving forward soon. “A lot of these priority items are bottlenecking,

A California-based company’s plan to sell up to $500 million of tax-exempt environmental improvement revenue bonds through the Indiana Finance Authority to build a garbage-to-jet fuel facility in Gary is on hold after the company’s bonds for a similar plant in Nevada went into default. Pleasanton, California-based Fulcrum BioEnergy sold about $290 million of environmental

Municipals weakened further Thursday as outflows from muni mutual funds lessened, while short-term U.S. Treasury yields fell after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell suggested central bankers could raise rates again, but not at the upcoming meeting. Equities sold off. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Thursday was at 71%, the three-year was at 71%, the five-year at 70%,

Chattanooga, Tennessee, fetched AAA ratings ahead of its planned general obligation bond sale. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings both affirmed Chattanooga’s AAA issuer rating while assigning the same to an upcoming competitive sale of $40.2 million of general obligation bonds by the city expected on or around Oct. 31. The outlook is stable on

Moody’s Investors Service revised the outlook on Oklahoma’s Aa2 rating to positive from stable on Wednesday, citing the state’s “strong reserves, low leverage, and expected budgetary balance.” The action followed S&P Global Ratings’ placement of a positive outlook on the state’s AA rating in July.  Moody’s said reserves will help in the management of Oklahoma’s

Municipal market participants have had to get creative to manage the current market but should not get creative on the regulatory front, warned one of the market’s key Washington regulators. “Regulators often talk about when there is reduced issuance, this is where a lot of problematic deals come up,” said David Sanchez, head of the

Nevada plans to sell $504.8 million in general obligation bonds next week. In one deal, the state will surpass the GO issuance of any previous year in the past five years, according to Refinitiv data. Since 2017, the state has sold $1.2 billion in total GO debt, according to Refinitiv. The state is issuing more

Chicago received a credit boost Thursday from Fitch Ratings, which upgraded its general obligation rating to BBB-plus from BBB, due to a decline in the city’s long-term liability burden stemming from steady growth in the economic resource base and improved debt management practices. The rating agency also raised the rating on sales tax securitization bonds

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has endorsed a plan to increase the state and local tax deductions to $20,000 for individuals and $40,000 for couples in a bid to win over more Republicans, especially from blue states, in an indication that the issue could play a serious role in the negotiations over who will ascend to

Higher interest rates, macroeconomic uncertainties and outflows from mutual funds resulted in a rather gloomy outlook from panelists assessing the state of the union for the muni bond market at The Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance conference in San Francisco. Broker-dealers are experiencing a myriad of pressures. Individual bankers are putting in longer hours for

The National Association of Bond Lawyers intends to play a key role in the implementation of the Financial Data Transparency Act, a contentious issue that’s been bedeviling the muni community since it was first proposed.  “We are also putting together a taskforce to serve alongside our industry partners and help craft market-wide messaging around the

Only days after Palm Beach County, Florida, upped its investments in Israel bonds, states, cities and counties around the nation have joined in, bringing the total investments to more than $150 million. New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas, Ohio, Arizona and Georgia have joined Florida, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties and the city of Miami Beach

Municipals faced more pressure Wednesday and two billion-dollar-plus deals for Connecticut and the New York City Transitional Finance Authority saw yields rise up to 12 to 13 basis points from Tuesday’s retail pricings while the third consecutive week of $2 billion plus outflows were reported. U.S. Treasuries saw more losses and equities sold off. Triple-A

Partners in the development of a pair of nuclear reactors in Georgia have settled a legal dispute that threatened the project’s underlying financing structure. Investor-owned Georgia Power and cooperative Oglethorpe Power, primary partners on the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, recently agreed to new terms regarding cost-sharing

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the U.S. central bank can wait and gather more data before deciding if the economy needs further monetary restraint, signaling that he favors holding interest rates steady when officials meet in two weeks. “I believe we can wait, watch and see how the economy evolves before making definitive moves

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority took on a tough market Tuesday when it sold $500 million of bonds in its inaugural issuance of debt for a controversial expansion program, but the issuer said the deal was met with good demand. Underwriters led by RBC Capital Markets, priced 5% coupon second senior revenue bonds, serials 2035-2043, with

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will vote to approve three market activity fees and one municipal advisor professional fee at its upcoming board meeting set to take place Oct. 25-26. The MSRB’s annual rate card process adjusts its municipal advisor fee, underwriting fee, transaction fee and trade count fee to levels it anticipates will be

The Biscayne Bay economic study for 2023 shows the impact of Bay-related activities generated $64 billion for the South Florida region’s economy. The study released by Miami-Dade County Monday provides an update from the original 2005 analysis, which had estimated the Bay’s economic output at $12.8 billion. Biscayne Bay is pictured. In 2022, 119.8 million