Bonds

Amtrak’s poor planning could mean more delays and cost overruns on its largest infrastructure project, a $6 billion replacement of the Baltimore-Potomac tunnel, Amtrak’s inspector general said in a new audit. Amtrak is starting to address the planning problems by beefing up staff, but initially it did not have an effective management structure or enough

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Thrivent Investment Management for violating the obligations in Regulation Best Interest when brokers for the firm recommended Class A mutual fund shares instead of Class C mutual fund shares in Illinois and Nebraska 529 Savings Plans. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm has agreed to a

Amid an onslaught of outsized new issuance, many deals have been oversubscribed as buyers clamor for paper, particularly in the high-yield space and from specialty states. “It’s been a bit of a fight for deals that come to the primary market,” said Jon Mondillo, global head of Fixed Income at abrdn. Despite issuance up 35.2%

The devastation Hurricane Helene rained on the mountain region of western North Carolina can be handled financially by governments in the short term but other municipal issuers may struggle and the long term is cloudy, analysts say. Helene hammered the area from Friday through Sunday, bringing rainfall amounts up to 31.3 inches, hurricane winds up

Municipals were a touch softer Wednesday, but outperformed U.S. Treasury weakness as investors focused on the primary market with several large new-issues pricing to solid demand. Equities were in the black to close the session. Triple-A yield curves were little changed to weaker by one to four basis points, depending on the curve, while Treasuries

There were many “trailblazers” at the Muni Pride LGBTQ+ History Month Social Mixer, Connecticut Treasurer Erick Russell said in his speech at the event.  “Even if you aren’t a first, say, for your profession, or a first in your organization, the worlds of finance and law and government have not always been the best when

An agreement that could lead to the issuance of up to $900 million of bonds to finance the renovation of a major league sports arena in Salt Lake City and the development of a downtown district was approved late Tuesday by the city council. The debt would be paid off with revenue from a 0.5%,

As affordable housing has stepped into the spotlight in the presidential election, including during Tuesday’s vice-presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris is touting transit-oriented development as a way to increase housing in urban areas. “Some of the work is going to be through what we do in terms of giving benefits and assistance to state

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has approved a $48.8 million budget for the 2025 fiscal year, a 2.9% increase from the prior year and its first after the Securities and Exchange Commission suspended its FY2024 rate card and after the board conducted a couple of stakeholders meetings on its budgeting process. For FY 2025,  $15.1

Investortools and ficc.ai have partnered to stream the latter’s predictive trade levels into the former’s Investortools Dealer Network. This integration gives Investortools’ clients greater “AI-driven pricing intelligence,” allowing them to make more informed decisions and have the flexibility to incorporate their preferred real-time pricing data providers, according to a press release. Through the integration, Investortool’s

The Securities and Exchange Commission has closed out its case against Matthias O’Meara and Choice Advisors, who acted as unregistered municipal advisors and were the first to be charged under MSRB Rule G-42 on the duties of non-solicitor municipal advisors, winning judgments of $312,572 for O’Meara and $187,337 for Choice. That comes after the U.S.

The Ohio Water Development Authority was scheduled to return to market Tuesday with triple-A-rated revenue bonds, including $400 million of new money green bonds. New money proceeds will reimburse the agency for loans financing wastewater, stormwater and water pollution prevention projects. The OWDA jointly administers, with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the state’s bond-funded wastewater

In her new role as Indianapolis-based managing director at Crews & Associates, Susan Reed aims to bring both creative ideas and a deep well of experience to bear on the challenges facing Indiana issuers. Reed, who has worked as a bond attorney and a municipal advisor and has served in a community and economic development

Municipals yields fell Tuesday following the U.S. Treasury market in a flight-to-safety bid amid rising tensions in the Middle East while equities saw losses. The larger new-issue slate began pricing in earnest as the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York accelerated a $1-plus billion Northwell Health deal and several competitive loans were well

The California School Boards Association is suing the state over a Proposition 98 work-around included as a trailer bill in the budget. Proposition 98, often referenced throughout California’s state budget process, constitutionally mandates the state to allocate a certain percentage of the state budget to education each year. The 2024 Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill,

Real technological change in the municipal bond market will be uncomfortable for the “merchants of complexity” that benefit from the current market structure. That’s the word from participants at MuniTech, a conference billed as a magnet for the “tech-forward” in public finance. “We all have to have a really hard discussion,” said Hector Negroni, a

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Merrill Lynch $50,000 for reporting 65,335 municipal securities transactions that it shouldn’t have, part of a wider action against the banking behemoth that ended in $2 million in fines. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm agreed to the fines and a censure for violating MSRB Rules

Austin will start issuing bonds in late 2025 to help finance an estimated $4 billion airport expansion program to accommodate record-breaking passenger growth, according to the airport. Last week, the Austin City Council authorized the negotiation and execution of design and construction contracts for an arrivals and departures hall at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport that will

Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Mike Scarchilli (00:03): Hi everyone and welcome to The Bond Buyer Podcast, your essential resource for insights into everything municipal finance. I’m Mike Scarchilli, Editor-in-Chief of The Bond

Municipal bonds are directly or indirectly involved in a flurry of litigation in Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah triggered by defaults, bankruptcy, environmental concerns, or laws that punish financial firms for their stance on fossil fuels.  The outcomes of the lawsuits could determine if bonds can be issued, who is to blame for defaulted debt,

Municipals saw some weakness up front while U.S. Treasuries saw losses across the curve after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the Fed’s rate-cutting schedule was not yet certain as the U.S. economy remains strong. Equities closed in the black. USTs saw the largest losses on the short-end, with yields rising up to 7 basis