Bonds

Two Congressional bills to permanently raise the rum cover rate supporting some U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico bonds are languishing, with a possible financial crisis coming as soon as 2028. Two federal bills, HR 3146 and S1477, submitted last May to increase the rate permanently, were sent to committees, which haven’t taken any action.

It’s déjà vu all over again for the municipal bond market. For the second year in a row, the Treasury Department’s so-called Green Book, which contains the Biden administration’s tax policy initiatives and proposals, fails to mention tax-exempt municipal bonds. It’s an absence that’s puzzling given that President Joe Biden has made infrastructure a centerpiece

The North Carolina Local Government Commission approved more than $1 billion in financing requests from state agencies and local governments at its latest meeting. The largest request on Tuesday’s agenda was from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, which was given approval to issue $750 million of revenue bonds to be used to increase the

The Securities and Exchange Commission is seeing an increase in unregistered municipal advisor activity related to charter schools and public private partnership financings as its focus on MAs begins to harden. That’s according to representatives from the SEC gathered on Tuesday for Practicing Law Institute’s SEC Speaks in 2024 event. “One of the things that

When the Michigan State Housing Development Authority in February priced $424.6 million of single-family mortgage revenue bonds, it was part of a broad recent surge in the sector. The MSHDA’s new bonds — 2024 Series A tax-exempt, 2024 Series B federally taxable and 2024 Series C variable-rate federally taxable — were issued to finance the

The bankruptcy of Iowa City’s Mercy Hospital is closer to an end with the resolution last week of a dispute between the committee of unsecured creditors, which had filed a complaint on March 25, and trustee Computershare Trust and bondholder representative Preston Hollow Community Capital.  The plan support agreement reached raised the estimated dollar amount

Cornell University plans to bring two deals totaling $1.11 billion, almost half of it taxable corporate CUSIP securities, this week and next. The university is expected to bring the $500 million Series 2024B taxable bonds to market Thursday. It will mature on June 15, 2034, with an option to redeem with a make whole call/par

Municipals played catch up to U.S. Treasury weakness and sold off Tuesday as supply pressure and secondary selling caught up to the asset class. Equities ended down. Triple-A yields rose seven to 12 basis points, depending on the scale, while USTs yields rose up to four basis points. Before Tuesday’s selloff, muni yields have been

Dallas will offer $567.6 million of debt in two competitive sales Thursday as city officials continue to work on plans to fully fund pensions within 30 years and rating agencies warn of potential credit impacts from growing unfunded liabilities.  The nation’s ninth largest city is selling $197.19 million of combination tax and revenue certificates of

Public-private partnerships and investment funds will be key to meeting infrastructure demands in the United States, where public debt won’t be enough to close the gap or cover the shift to decarbonization. That’s the message from Larry Fink, CEO of Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager that in January made a major move into the

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined and suspended Christopher Perillo, a former municipal securities representative for Academy Securities, for accessing study materials while taking the Series 52 exam.  Perillo agreed to pay $5,000 and be suspended from the industry, without either admitting or denying FINRA’s findings that he violated Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule

When his partner decided to retire, bond attorney Brian Quint shuttered his San Francisco law firm and joined Stradling Yocca, Carlson & Rauth. Quint & Thimmig closed March 31 — exactly 27 years to the day that it opened on March 31, 1997. Brian Quint started work as of counsel at Stradling on Monday. Brian

An attempt by Austin, Texas, officials to seek court validation for bonds to help finance a multi-billion-dollar light rail project faces a key test this month. The eligibility of Austin Transit Partnership, a corporation created by the city and the regional Capital Metro Transportation Authority to spearhead Project Connect’s development and financing, to petition for

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Mike Scarchilli (00:03):Hi everyone and welcome to the Bond Buyer podcast, your go-to source for

Munis were little changed Monday as U.S. Treasuries sold off and equities ended mixed. Following the conclusion of the first quarter, munis are seeing losses for the year with the asset class returning negative 0.39% for the year and March returns were at 0.00%, noted Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities. The

Private activity bonds issued for Los Angeles International Airport’s multi-billion-dollar people mover project were affirmed at junk by Fitch Ratings last week as the public-private project’s completion date was pushed out another six months. Fitch affirmed the speculative-grade BB-plus rating on California Municipal Finance Authority’s $1.2 billion senior lien revenue bonds issued on behalf of

The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $1.5 billion loan to re-start a closed Michigan nuclear reactor, which if finalized would mark the nation’s first recommissioned plant as part of the Bidens administration’s goal of reaching 100% clean energy electricity by 2035 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The loan, which received conditional approval from the

Bond traders priced in less monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve this year — and briefly set the odds of a first move in June to less than 50% — after a gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity showed expansion for the first time since 2022. The amount of Fed easing priced into swap contracts

Issuance in March increased for the third consecutive month, helped by a surge in refundings and several billion-plus dollar deals, as increased demand and fewer economic headwinds led to greater issuer confidence. March’s volume rose 7.1% to $36.405 billion in 532 issues from $34.008 billion in 601 issues in 2023. Issuance in March is above the

Asbestos. Lead. Temperatures that reach 115 degrees. Cracks in the ceiling so big you can see the sky. All of these have been found in Pennsylvania’s public schools.  Pennsylvania lawmakers toured schools around the commonwealth last year, and what they found was “nothing short of shameful,” according to State Representative Peter Schweyer.  “I was touring

The Purdue University Trustees priced $72.43 million of student fee bonds Tuesday, joining other issuers in refunding some of the university’s outstanding Build America Bonds. Lead managers Jefferies and Ramirez & Co. priced the deal Wednesday, with Wells Fargo Securities serving as co-manager. The municipal advisor is Blue Rose Capital Advisors. Bond counsel is Ice