Bonds

Prince George’s County Public Schools is bringing more than $660 million of taxable sustainable revenue bonds that will fast-track the construction of eight new schools via a public-private partnership, coming into a constructive market in which taxable paper is in higher demand.  The project will build eight new schools comprising 1.03 million square feet of

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Morgan Stanley $24,000 for failing to disclose mark-ups and mark-downs on 19,000 municipal securities transactions, part of a $400,000 total penalty the latest in a string of recent actions FINRA has taken to prosecute mark-up disclosure failures. Morgan Stanley, which neither admitted nor denied FINRA’s findings, also failed

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the state of Missouri laid out their arguments in court Tuesday in a lawsuit over the state’s year-old environmental, social and governance investment rules.   Judge Stephen Bough of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri peppered the parties with questions, often based on his

Seven months after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the listing and trading of several spot bitcoin exchange-traded product shares, a number of Midwest public pension funds are dabbling in cryptocurrency and crypto company investments. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which manages the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System, recently invested roughly $188 million

Municipal yields fell Tuesday as the primary kicked into gear, while munis underperformed an improved U.S. Treasury market as equities rallied after inflation data came in softer than expected. Triple-A municipal curves saw bumps of two to four basis points with the better performance on the short end while Treasuries improved by four to eight

Dallas Fort Worth International Airport will head to the municipal bond market next week with a $750 million deal boosted by a rating upgrade and an outlook revision to positive. S&P Global Ratings raised its rating to AA-minus from A-plus, citing the airport’s “relatively” strong enplanements, history of financial resiliency, and stable debt service coverage. The

The Wayne State University Board of Governors will return to market with $31.8 million of Series 2024A general revenue refunding bonds. Proceeds of the deal, scheduled to price Aug. 21, will be used to refund a portion of the Detroit-based school’s outstanding Series 2015A general revenue and refunding bonds.  The new deal arrives with Wayne

The Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) passed by Congress in December 2022 mandated the use of a common, non-proprietary legal entity identifier for municipal issuers. Although Congress’ legislative intent continues to be a matter of debate, we argue that any implementation of this new mandate will have to satisfy a basic market need: the correct

A proposed constitutional amendment on Colorado’s Nov. 5 ballot aimed at curbing property taxes would roil municipal financing in the state and harm metropolitan districts in particular, by boosting borrowing costs and sparking litigation, according to bond dealers and attorneys. Initiative 50, a proposed constitutional amendment that requires a 55% majority vote for passage, would

Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. pegged losses from estimated accrual of liabilities stemming from one of the worst wildfires in US history at $1.7 billion and issued a going-concern warning.  Hawaiian Electric said Aug. 2 that it had agreed to pay almost $2 billion as part of a $4 billion settlement to resolve hundreds of lawsuits

Municipals were mostly steady Monday after a week of market volatility, as U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities were mixed at the close. Market participants are sitting back ahead of the week’s economic indicators, led by the Producer Price Index and Consumer Price Index reports on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. “The Treasury market may get

California Republican Rep. Mike Garcia last week unveiled a bill that would block federal funds for the state’s controversial high-speed rail project. “After 15 years and billions of your hard-earned tax dollars spent, California’s high-speed rail has delivered zero results,” said Garcia in a statement announcing H.R. 9308, the No Frankenrail Act. “This so-called high-speed rail

S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on Arizona’s AA issuer rating to positive from stable, citing the state’s “robust” economic growth, as well as its financial management. The move points to an expectation of a one-in-three chance of a rating upgrade over the next two years, according to the rating agency.  Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs

Municipals were little changed ahead of a smaller $6.6 billion new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasuries were firmer and equities rallied. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Friday was at 65%, the three-year at 66%, the five-year at 67%, the 10-year at 67% and the 30-year at 83%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m. EST read. ICE

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order instructing state agencies to adopt policies to clear homeless camps on state properties and asked local governments to use the “substantial funding” provided by the state to take similar action. The executive order issued Thursday comes a month after the U.S. Supreme Court’s sweeping Grants Pass decision

Karl Knight was appointed chief executive officer of the U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority Thursday, effective July 29. The last permanent CEO, Andrew Smith, resigned on June 1 after two and a half years in the position. Since then, Ashley Bryan, who had been the head of electrical operations, has served as interim

Private equity giant KKR is buying Philadelphia-based broker-dealer Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Janney, which dates to 1832, operates as a full-service wealth management, investment banking, and asset management firm. KKR announced Tuesday that it will acquire the firm from The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, its owner since 1982. After the deal closes, Janney, which

The looming 2028 Olympics and the specter of crime took center stage at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s state of the agency event this week. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass handed off the gavel and her title as Metro chair to Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn during Wednesday’s event held at Union

Municipals were little changed Friday ahead of another large new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasury yields fell further and equities ended higher. A “relatively difficult start to the year” was expected, “as Treasury yields were too low, market participants were too optimistic about the number of rate cuts this year, and muni ratios were near their multi-year

In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent reversal of the so-called Chevron doctrine, House Republican leaders Wednesday launched a review of the Biden administration’s environmental, social and governance agency regulations. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chair Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, sent letters this

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s amendments to Rule G-47 on time of trade disclosure, adding three disclosure scenarios, retiring some existing guidance and clarifying some supplemental information. The amendments were filed with the Commission in April and the amendments themselves were discussed and approved at the MSRB’s quarterly