Bonds

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

A subsidiary of Spanish highway operator Abertis is considering borrowing $424 million to fund capital projects for four Puerto Rico toll roads.  The Public Finance Authority, a Wisconsin-based conduit issuer, approved the municipal bond sale for Puerto Rico Toll Roads LLC, at a June 26 board meeting. PFA would loan the proceeds it borrows to

The North Carolina Local Government Commission approved $226 million in water revenue bonds for three municipalities in the Research Triangle Region at its meeting Tuesday. The commission approved a $76 million bond and an $88.4 million state revolving fund loan for Sanford, a $75 million bond and a $54 million SRF loan for Fuquay-Varina, and

Western cities and states have more flexibility to address homelessness following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upends the legal guidelines for how governments in the West respond to homeless people. How they use that flexibility remains to be seen. In a 6-3 opinion led by the conservative majority, the high court on June 28

Officials in East St. Louis, Illinois, have sued the local police and firefighter pension boards and the state comptroller to block the use of a law allowing the comptroller to intercept state funds going to the city and redirect them to pension payments. According to the Belleville News-Democrat, the city is challenging the law’s legitimacy

Municipals were firmer Thursday, underperforming a U.S. Treasury rally after inflation data showed Federal Reserve rate cuts are on track for later this year, with the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting the likely start to an easing cycle. Equities ended mixed. Muni yields fell two to eight basis points, depending on the curve, while

Public infrastructure built with federal emergency funds must conform to stricter flood-risk standards to better protect against rising climate risk, the Biden administration said Wednesday. The standard, which was years in the making, requires buildings and other infrastructure built with Federal Emergency Management Agency funds to be elevated higher above local flood levels, or relocated

Miller Canfield has hired five public finance attorneys from Ice Miller, and they will work out of the Chicago office. The hiring of James Snyder, Austin Root, Mark Huddle, Shelly Scinto and Kathleen Thomas aligns with the Detroit-based international law firm’s growth strategy: in specific practice areas, such as school districts, and a geographic expansion,

Phoenix-based Grand Canyon University, which is wrestling with legal and regulatory matters, is refinancing up to $520 million of taxable bonds rated a notch above junk by Fitch Ratings. The refunding involves debt maturing in October from a $1.2 billion taxable revenue bond issue the private Christian university sold in 2021 to refinance the remaining

It is “critical” that the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and its creditors work toward a negotiated deal to resolve the bankruptcy, U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said in ordering the parties to continue negotiating for 60 days, at which point restarting the bankruptcy’s litigation on various legal and possibly evidentiary issues or dismissal

Ila Afsharipour joined Wells Fargo this week as managing director. He will head the firm’s real estate, securitization, and affordable housing team, as well as work with Nick Fluehr in co-heading the firm’s broader housing public finance team. Afsharipour, who has more than a decade of experience in the public finance sector, will be responsible

Miami-Dade County will bring nearly a billion dollars of aviation revenue refunding bonds for Miami International Airport in a deal supported by growing passenger and freight demand. Pricing is preliminarily scheduled for Tuesday on $782.4 million of Series 2024A bonds subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax and $141.4 million of Series 2024B bonds not subject

Municipals were mixed in secondary trading Wednesday as the primary market took focus, led by a $1.2 billion deal in three series from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York. U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities ended up. Thursday’s consumer price index report is the “event of the week,” said Cooper Howard,

A shortage of Federal Highway Administration emergency relief funds and the fact that it is a toll bridge could play a role in determining who pays what toward the eventual replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. “Currently, the ER program itself is drastically short of the funding necessary for all the eligible

Solid investment returns and higher interest rates have been a boon for state and local pension funds, Moody’s Ratings said in a comment piece this week. Strong market performance and higher interest rates have resulted in a $3 trillion drop in unfunded pension liabilities as of June 30 compared to the peak in 2020, marking

The growth in the number of state and local government-supported stadium facilities, which reached a 17-year high in 2023, opens significant risk of adverse financial and economic consequences that could affect a city, state or county for years after the deal, Moody’s warned in a public finance sector report Tuesday. The steady stream of proposals