Bonds

California State Treasurer Fiona Ma appointed Christina Sarron to head the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority.Bloomberg News A long-time veteran of the State Treasurer’s public finance office has taken the helm of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. State Treasurer Fiona Ma Tuesday announced that she has appointed Christina

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander endorsed excluding fossil fuel infrastructure from NYC pension investments.  Under such a policy, three New York funds would be the first large pension funds in the country to avoid all midstream and downstream fossil fuel infrastructure in their private markets investments. “Climate risk is financial risk,” Lander said at

Half Day Forest Preserve in Lake County, Illinois. Lake County Forest Preserves is asking voters to approve a $155 million bond referendum on Nov. 5.Jennifer Shea Voters in the Midwest will see a half-dozen conservation referendums on their ballots, three of them involving bonds. Such local issues have one advantage amid the polarization that has

Municipals extended their selloff with the largest losses on the short end amid another busy day in the primary market, led by an upsized JFK Airport Terminal 6 Redevelopment Project deal. U.S. Treasuries were little changed and equities ended mixed. Triple-A yields rose three to 12 basis points, playing some catch up after recent outperformance.

As the election looms, tax specialists and politicos are gaming out what might happen to key provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including the deduction cap on state and local taxes.   “There’s an interesting set of bedfellows and partnerships that could emerge on SALT,” said Arshi Siddiqui, a partner at Akin, and a

The New York State Capitol Building in Albany. New York has enacted some improved public pension benefits.Bloomberg News A trend of public pension benefit improvements could put credit pressure on states that enact them, Fitch Ratings said this week. Enacted and proposed state measures providing more generous benefits will “lead to higher required contributions and

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Alliance Global Partners for engaging in unfair practices and publishing daily quotes at above market prices on anywhere between 4,300 and 6,500 different municipal bonds between February 2019 and February 2021. The firm violated Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rules G-13 on quotes, G-14 on reports of sales or

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Examination Division will take a closer look at municipal advisors, specifically non-solicitor municipal advisors in FY 2025, and will begin enforcing the move to a T+1 settlement cycle. That comes on the backs of the Commission’s first case enforcing Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-42, which was established in 2016

More firms are turning to integrating with other systems as they address growing client needs for seamless workflows and contend with the ability to scale their business. However, barriers can impede integration, leading to firms having varying levels of success. Since “fixed income markets are complex and bifurcated … we have to collaborate to provide

Oklahoma would open the door to the creation of bond-issuing public infrastructure districts if voters approve a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 5 statewide ballot. State question 833 would allow property owners to petition their municipality to create a PID as a way to finance roads, sidewalks, parks, and water and sewer services through the

The top five bond financings in the ranking came in at more than $7 billion, according to data from LSEG. The top 20 bond financings have a cumulative amount of more than $18 billion. Total issuance in September hit nearly $45 billion, bringing market expectations for a record year closer to fruition. Scroll through to

Municipals were weaker Monday following U.S. Treasury market pressures while equities ended down. Triple-A yields rose up to seven basis points while govies were higher by eight to 12 basis points. Short ratios fell as a result of the day’s moves. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday day was at 61%, the three-year at 61%, the

On Monday, the Department of Transportation announced the winners of $4.2 billion in grants flowing from the Biden Administration’s infrastructure legislative crown jewel.  “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Biden-Harris administration is carrying out ambitious, complex transportation projects that will shape our country’s infrastructure for generations to come,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.  “With

PNC bank has recently made several new hires, beefing up its banking presence in the west and in Texas. Christopher Roberts joined the firm in August as managing director and head of Western Region & National Public Power/Utilities, and Joey Dierker joined as an associate director. More recent hires include Soledad Mancias and Steve Bassett,

Michael Doweary is the state-appointed receiver for Chester, Pennsylvania. Chester, Pennsylvania, is broke, its state-appointed receiver says. This fact is not in dispute. Chester is one of the only two municipalities in the country with an active bankruptcy, and is millions of dollars short of its pension obligations. But nearly everything else about the Chester

Municipals were little changed Friday ahead of another robust new-issue week while U.S. Treasuries made some gains and equities closed in the black. “Strong September employment numbers and a somewhat higher CPI reading continued to reverberate through the bond market,” said BofA Global Research strategists Yingchen Li and Ian Rogow in a weekly report. “This,

Hyman Grossman, former head of public finance at S&P and longtime industry veteran known for expanding S&P’s public finance analytics team from its early days into the giant it now is, as well as great friend, family man and mentor to many, has passed away at the age of 89. “He was an analyst covering

Broward County, Florida’s Tourism Development Tax, sales tax, and Professional Sports Facilities tax and revenue refunding bonds were upgraded by Moody’s Ratings, affecting about $628 million in bonds. Moody’s upgraded the county’s TDT revenue bonds, Series 2021 (Convention Center Expansion Project) to Aa2 from Aa3; sales tax bonds, Series 2020, to Aaa from Aa1; and

The public private partnership that took over Puerto Rico toll roads out of the territory’s bankruptcy is gearing up to sell municipal debt for the enterprise. The Wisconsin-based Public Finance Authority will be pricing the $286.2 million in senior revenue bonds on behalf of Puerto Rico Tollroads, LLC. Barclays is an underwriter. Fitch Ratings rates

Houston Mayor John Whitmire took aim Thursday at city Controller Chris Hollins for soliciting sponsorships from municipal bond firms for an upcoming investor conference, saying it smacks of pay-to-play and calling for an investigation. The mayor said he received calls from bond underwriting firms about sponsorships for Tuesday’s event with price tags ranging from $10,000

As funding from the American Rescue Plan Act peters out, cites are balancing reserves and issuing new debt while searching for funding streams.  “Our biggest challenge is not the replacement of the ARPA funds, it’s rather how are we going to pay for the future debt, for the amount of infrastructure debt we have facing