Bonds

A routine change of leadership on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is looking more like a power struggle in a legislative body that carries weight in public finance policy and rulings. On Wednesday Rep. Rick Crawford ,R-Ark., formally announced he was running for the Chairmanship of the T&I Committee while Rep. Sam Graves,

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined NewEdge Securities, the brokerage arm of NewEdge Capital Group $90,000, in addition to restitution of $44,927.83 for charging unfair prices on 62 corporate bond transactions and six municipal bond transactions. Along with the fine and restitution, the firm has been censured for violating FINRA Rules 2121 and 2010,

President Biden reignited the tax debate in his State of the Union address Wednesday, touting the progress he’s made so far in his three years in office and the amount of work still needed to be done on taxes, setting up a larger partisan battle for the coming year. “The way to make the tax

One tool aimed at helping to solve California’s notorious affordable housing crisis appears to be headed for a crisis of its own. Defaults are rising on highly leveraged unrated workforce housing bonds, primarily issued over the last few years in California to purchase apartment buildings, when interest rates were near zero. So far, six out

A group of investors have challenged the legality of the Regents of the University of California’s ability to trigger an extraordinary redemption provision to refund their outstanding Build America Bonds. This may not be the last challenge as several issuers have made clear they intend to use the ERP to refund billions of their outstanding

Fitch Ratings upgraded the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $1 billion of outstanding transportation revenue bonds (TRBs) to AA from A. The New York City subway system is part of the MTA. “A healthy credit rating is more than just a score, it can attract investors and lower interest rates at which the bonds are

Municipal bond mutual funds saw much larger inflows Thursday and the ninth consecutive week of high-yield inflows while there was a firmer bid in the secondary market but munis underperformed U.S. Treasuries for the second session. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell testified for the second day before Congress, during which he said before cutting

Huntington National Bank has brought on Citi’s entire Midwest public finance banking group, with Samantha Costanzo being named head of public finance, the fourth woman to lead a municipal banking division in the industry. She will be based in Chicago. Jurl Vinegar and Rupi Jain are also joining as director of public finance and associate

Treasury this week released closely watched final rules for renewable energy tax credits that will be available for the first time to cities and states and that could drive an uptick in power deals and bond financings. “If direct pay works, if we can get through the hurdle of the mechanics, there will be a

A Houston City Council vote Wednesday on initial financing for a $2.55 billion terminal renovation project at George Bush Intercontinental Airport was once again stalled by the city controller’s office. An advisory from Mayor John Whitmire’s office late last week indicated the city was finally ready to move the project forward with the placement of

Harvest Gold Silica Inc. filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court this week, after defaulting on bonds it sold through the Arizona Industrial Development Authority (AZIDA) in 2019.  The case, pending in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, follows two other bankruptcy filings over the past year by entities that sold

The deal to move two major league sports teams out of D.C. and into a new arena built on bonds in Northern Virginia is looking less than likely to happen.  The $2 billion public private partnership would move towards existence with a budget approval by the Virginia State Legislature, but Senate Finance and Appropriations Chairwoman

Andrew Belinfanti Knight has been hired by Siebert Williams Shank as a managing director of public finance, the firm announced on Wednesday. A 16-year veteran of the municipal bond sector, he will work out of the firm’s Los Angeles office. Belinfanti Knight has worked on over $20 billion of senior managed transactions in municipal finance

West Virginia’s general revenue collections came in at $283.4 million in February, $30.62 million below the official estimate. February was the eighth month of fiscal 2024 and cumulative collections for the fiscal year of $3.581 billion so far are $428.1 million ahead of forecasts. “While February’s revenue came in slightly below our expectations, it’s important

Cabrera Capital Markets is welcoming three new public finance hires who are joining the firm from UBS. Shawn Dralle, Shawnell Holman and Chris Bergstrom together bring more than 75 collective years of investment banking experience to Cabrera Capital.  The hires are part of Cabrera Capital’s nationwide growth, with Dralle working out of Los Angeles as

Loop Capital Markets has added four former Citi and UBS public finance professionals to its ranks, joining the growing list of firms to expand their banking teams in the muni space. John Malpiede, John Giammarino and Alain Garcia will be joining Loop Capital from Citi, and Candace Kelly is moving over from UBS.  “The additions

Municipals improved Wednesday, as U.S. Treasury yields fell five years and out and equities saw gains after Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated rate cuts are still set for this year. “The Fed wants to see continued evidence that inflation is moving closer to target,” said Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer., who

The headwinds facing the University of Idaho’s plan to acquire the University of Phoenix got a lot stronger this week; as did obstacles toward issuing bonds to fund the $685 million purchase through U of I’s affiliated nonprofit, Four Three Education. On Tuesday, the state’s House of Representatives passed House Concurrent Resolution 26 in a

Harvard University saw strong market reception to $750 million of taxable corporate CUSIPs Tuesday, becoming the latest prestigious university to tap the muni market due to pent-up capital needs amid a steadier rate environment. Goldman Sachs priced for the Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College (Aaa/AAA//) $750 million of taxable corporate CUSIPs, Series 2024A, Tuesday.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority are planning several note and bond sales this month, the MTA said. During the week of March 11, the MTA plans to sell two competitive payroll mobility tax bond anticipation note issues. One transaction will consist of about $500 million of MTA

The Federal Reserve’s dormant emergency lending program for state and local governments set up during the COVID-19 pandemic had a surprise return to the spotlight last Friday when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced a measure banning the central bank from reviving the program or buying municipal bonds in the future. “It was never intended that