Bonds

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. placed First Republic Bank into receivership on Monday morning, and JPMorgan Chase has acquired much of the San Francisco bank, ending a frantic week as regulators scrambled to arrange a last-minute rescue. The bank was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation overnight and handed to the

Emily Magee and Bailey Williams have joined Butler Snow LLP’s public finance practice at its new office in Jacksonville, Florida, the firm announced Thursday. The Jacksonville office is the firm’s first in Florida and 28th location in the United States. “We are thrilled to welcome Emily and Bailey to Butler Snow and our national public

As it approaches a deadline on a state-backed incentive package, electric automaker Rivian faces fresh legal headaches in its plans for a $5 billion production plant in rural Georgia. A deal negotiated between Rivian, the Georgia Economic Development Commission, and the Joint Development Authority for Jasper, Morgan, Newton, and Walton Counties, with the blessing of

The rate of capture of sales and use taxes supporting the Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. (COFINA) bonds has improved, the Puerto Rico Treasury Department said. The collection rate compared to the legally liable amount was 77% in fiscal 2022, a study by the Treasury’s Office of Economic and Financial Affairs showed. That compared

Municipals were steady throughout most of the curve ahead of a new-issue calendar of $6 billion. U.S. Treasuries were firmer and equities were mixed. “Investors’ jitters in the lead up to next week’s Fed meeting resulted in some large macro market moves and a rise in volatility,” noted BofA Securities strategists in a weekly report.

Indianapolis Public Schools and at least 30 Michigan school district voters will decide Tuesday the fate of more than $2.5 billion worth of borrowing for infrastructure work, new schools, and safety-related projects. Indianapolis Public Schools seeks $410 million for projects throughout the district with 23 schools in line for improvements. The borrowing would help pay

A California appellate court Thursday resurrected a lawsuit accusing prominent Wall Street banks of conspiring to manipulate the variable-rate debt market. The 1st District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court ruling less than two days after hearing arguments in the case, which dates back nearly 10 years. It’s the latest turn in a series

Record state spending on California’s K-12 education will enable schools to retain stable credit quality despite a several-year drop in enrollment, Fitch Ratings said. The state’s schools experienced their sixth year of declining enrollment in fiscal 2023, dropping below 6 million students for the first time in 20 years, said Fitch’s report, released Thursday. The

The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Board of Directors voted 3 to 2 to approve borrowing from the territory’s government to retire a $285 million liability.   The authority also voted 3-1 to approve a deal with the entity it owed the money to, Vitol, to pay off the debt at a reduced

American Indian tribes being squeezed by inflation and legacy obstacles to bond issuance testified in front of the House Appropriations Committee on Friday, calling for increases in federal spending to meet critical needs on tribal land. The sympathetic hearing was chaired by Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., a member of the Chickasaw nation who acknowledged a

April municipal bond issuance dropped 24% year-over-year as issuers dealt with higher rates and states and municipalities are still flush with unspent stimulus cash. Total volume for the month was $30.599 billion in 577 issues, down from $40.423 billion in 900 issues a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data. Tax-exempt issuance was down 7.5% to $28.539

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will soon issue a request for comment on Rule G-12, on inter-dealer confirmations, where it will engage the market on whether to codify or retire nearly 40 pieces of interpretive guidance related to the rule. That decision came out of the MSRB’s quarterly Board of Directors meeting on April 26-27,

While taxable municipal issuance has plummeted year-to-date, a result of continued market volatility and rising interest rates, the sector is outperforming tax-exempts by wide margins. There is still value for issuers to price taxables and demand from investors in the U.S. and abroad for them is real, market participants said.  “Yields relative to Treasuries for

The revised $106.7 billion fiscal 2024 budget proposed by Mayor Eric Adams is the largest spending plan ever for New York City and while it contains near-record reserves, it also projects growing budget gaps in future years. “Our fiscal year 2024 budget is balanced at $106.7 billion. That is $4 billion more than it was in

Almost one month after missing the April 1 start of its fiscal year, New York State officials have reportedly come to an agreement on a $229 billion budget for fiscal 2024. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a “conceptual agreement” with the state Legislature Thursday night that addressed priorities for the year ahead including funding for the New York

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson named a transition committee and subcommittee leadership Thursday that draws from members of the city’s business, activist, and governmental communities to help shape his administration’s strategies and priorities. Johnson charged the group with crafting a written report in the coming week to guide the administration that takes office May 15th. “We

Municipals were weaker across the curve Thursday with the largest cuts seen on the front end, but outperformed a U.S. Treasury selloff following economic data that showed the growth in the U.S. economy slowed in the first quarter. Equities ended up. Triple-A yields rose as much as eight basis points on the two-year while UST

Wisconsin’s latest tender invitation to $1.8 billion of tax-exempt and taxable general obligation bond holders drew enough interest that the state dropped a planned forward refunding from its $500 million refunding transaction that priced Thursday. The state launched the tender offer to various tax-exempt series from 2015 through 2021 and taxables from some 2019 to

Legislation has been reintroduced in both the Senate and House that would allow regulated banks to work with state-legal cannabis companies, potentially further unlocking the revenue potential of the cannabis business for banks, states, and localities. Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. and Steve Daines, R-Mont., introduced the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act of 2023

The high-stakes Republican debt ceiling bill that passed the House late Wednesday may mark only the first of several efforts to claw back unspent local government and state pandemic funds. Issuers “need to be on high alert that all the must-pass bills will have an iteration of the [pandemic funds] claw back, and it will

Detroit’s general obligation bond ratings stand one notch away from a return to investment grade status after an upgrade from S&P Global Ratings that rewarded the city for steady fiscal momentum since exiting bankruptcy in 2014. S&P signaled the next lift needed to shed junk status is within reach — in the next one to