Bonds

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent suspension of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s rate card model is causing some confusion in the market, as the fees set for 2023 are now in effect for this year. That’s according to Mark Kim, chief executive officer at the MSRB, speaking during the Bond Buyer’s 2024 National Outlook

The slow rolling demise of the Highway Trust Fund combined with uncertainty about an eventual Bipartisan Infrastructure Law reauthorization has states and industry leaders exploring new funding and financing options. Sales tax charged on gasoline and diesel fuel remain the main engine powering the funding stream that states use to maintain roads, bridges, and public

Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center unveiled plans Wednesday for a $5 billion pediatric health campus in Dallas that will be financed in part with bonds. The project, which is expected to be completed in six to seven years, includes an approximately 2 million-square-foot hospital with three towers that will replace the existing Children’s

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. has brought on a pair of former UBS bankers to its public finance team under new public finance chief Elizabeth Coolidge. New York-based Kristin Stephens will head the firm’s Northeast region and Atlanta-based David Moffett will head the Southeast, the firm announced Thursday. “Kristin’s past work with issuers in developing innovative

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved amendments to Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-12 on uniform practices, adding a section to the rule that makes dealers involved in municipal securities transactions subject to the T+1 settlement cycle, another step towards the larger industry move shortening the settlement cycle. The proposal aligns MSRB Rule G-12

Florida-based plastics recycler PureCycle Technologies announced this week that its subsidiary, PureCycle: Ohio LLC, has agreed to buy out the majority holders of $219.55 million of outstanding private activity bonds tied to its Ironton, Ohio facility, the company’s first polypropylene purification plant.  The tax-exempt bonds had $219.55 million in principal outstanding at the time they

The North Carolina Local Government Commission on Tuesday approved the Mecklenburg County and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools request for a $2.5 billion bond package. It was the largest amount of tax-exempt financing ever OK’d by the commission. Separately, State Treasurer Dale Folwell noted that the state is on the way to reaching its goal of paying down

In 2023 several municipal issuers made tender offers for their not-yet-callable high coupon tax-exempt bonds. In most cases, the intended goal was to refund and save interest. These tenders turned out to be remarkably unsuccessful — the average acceptance ratio was only around 30%. There was a dearth of the usual press releases reveling about

The tremendous growth of separately managed accounts in the municipal market has been spurred on by higher yields, lower fees, the desire for deeper customization along with improvements in technology. Some participants on the Street estimate that SMAs hold as much as $1.5 trillion of munis while others peg it closer to $1 trillion to

An active primary market was the focus Wednesday with the New York City TFA pricing for institutions with small changes to yields from its Tuesday retail offering, Massachusetts upsizing its GO refunding deal and Wisconsin selling green bonds in the competitive market. Triple-A muni yield curves were mostly little changed to a basis point of

Law firm McGuireWoods has hired Jackie Wells, a former director in the enforcement department of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, as part of the continued expansion of its securities enforcement and regulatory counseling practice. Wells, who joins the international law firm’s New York office as counsel, spent eight years at FINRA, the private corporation that

Rating agencies affirmed Denver Health and Hospital Authority (DHHA) bonds at BBB with stable outlooks, citing improved operating performance. The affirmations came in the wake of concerns raised last month by the public safety net health system that an influx of migrants from the southern border was contributing to escalating uncompensated care costs. Denver Health

Municipal bonds are part of an Illinois city’s plan to help the local casino build a bigger venue at a new location. In its current form, Aurora’s Hollywood Casino occupies a barge tethered near downtown on the Fox River. The city wants to build a brand new casino resort about five miles away, near an

Gilt-edged Washington Suburban Sanitary District, Maryland, is offering $329 million of revenue bonds via a competitive sale Thursday that may help set the tone for triple-A yield curves that have been contending with U.S. Treasury market volatility in recent sessions.   The consolidated public improvement debt is being issued under the supervision of the Washington Suburban Sanitary

As infrastructure funding hangs up in obligation limitations and contract authority rules, state governments and federal lawmakers are already eyeing the possibility of reauthorizing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The $1.2 trillion BIL, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, represents the crowning legislative achievement for the Biden Administration. But the inflation unleashed by

The focus shifted fully into the primary market Tuesday as the secondary took a backseat to large new-issues pricing in both negotiated and competitive markets while U.S. Treasuries halted its two-day sell off to see gains on the day. Equities ended mixed. Munis were little changed Tuesday, as UST yields fell six to nine basis

A struggling Iowa hospital’s sale to its primary competitor through a bankruptcy proceeding has closed. In a case filing by Iowa City-based Mercy Hospital, the notice of sale closing made official the hospital’s sale to the University of Iowa through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Mercy filed for bankruptcy in August, thwarting a push by

The major Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bond parties asked the bankruptcy judge to adjourn or stay all bankruptcy proceedings due the potential profound implications of an anticipated First Circuit Court of Appeals decision on their appeal. U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain said the existing confirmation schedule and related deadlines “remain in place

Hawaii’s first-of-its-kind per-mile fee for vehicles marks the latest and most extensive effort yet among states seeking to offset the fading fuel tax. Signed into law by Gov. Josh Green last July, the law requires EVs to pay a per-mile charge or an annual fee by 2025 and will require all vehicles to pay a

Public-sector backers of a proposed bond-financed crude oil-transporting railway in Utah are turning to the U.S. Supreme Court and Congress in an effort to get the project back on track. The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition plans to seek the high court’s review of an August U.S. Appeals Court ruling that derailed the Uinta Basin Railway.

Illinois’ Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability on Thursday released its Special Pension Briefing on the state-funded retirement systems’ fiscal 2023 actuarial reports. The report said the five pension systems’ unfunded liability climbed to a market value of $142.2 billion at the end of fiscal 2023 on June 30 from $139.8 billion in 2022, with