Bonds

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a fiscal 2025 budget last week as she wrapped up action on legislation that did not include a bill to begin financing her $500 million strategic water supply proposal for the drought-prone state. The $10.2 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1, marks a

The National Football League’s Chicago Bears are pursuing plans to build a publicly owned domed stadium in Chicago, boosted by $2 billion of private funds.  The team has changed course after chasing a planned stadium development in Arlington Heights, a northwest suburb of Chicago, where talks were bogged down amid disagreements with three area school

Munis were steady Monday ahead of a large new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended mixed. Munis continue to see strong demand for bonds over the past several weeks, which has “pushed munis to be richer on a relative value basis versus Treasuries,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet

Raymond James has scooped up 10 former Citi employees, including six senior bankers, in an expansion effort that establishes a public finance office in Seattle for the firm, creates a dedicated public power practice, grows its West Coast footprint and enhances the firm’s housing finance group. Decisions by UBS and Citi to exit public finance

The U.S. Department of Transportation Monday released a long-awaited funding opportunity for states and cities interested in public-private partnerships for transportation projects under a first-of-its-kind program that’s part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $100 million Innovative Finance and Asset Concession Grant Program, created as part of the IIJA, is aimed at helping states

Issuers that have refunded outstanding Build America Bonds or have plans to do so using an extraordinary redemption provision may have legal backing, regardless of whether bondholders are “unhappy” with the deals, according to the largest bond counsel in the industry. Chas Cardall, a tax partner at Orrick, the bond counsel that worked on the

Pittsburgh-based Robert Morris University saw its rating downgraded to Ba1 by Moody’s Ratings last month, joining a wave of small colleges facing ratings pressure due to falling demand. The private university, which has about $92 million of outstanding debt, is part of a growing list of smaller higher education institutions, particularly in the Northeast, that

Municipals were steady ahead of a larger new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries and equities were mixed after a better-than-expected jobs report. High-yield and taxable munis outperformed this week, Bond Buyer 30-day visible supply grows to $13.27 billion with $9 billion plus of it pricing next week and opportunistic cash continues to sit on the sidelines.

As the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act nears its midpoint, the massive uptick in discretionary grants for transportation infrastructure threatens to undermine the law’s effectiveness because of chronic delays and bureaucratic confusion. That’s what county and state representatives told lawmakers Thursday during a House Transportation & Infrastructure hearing on the rollout of the IIJA’s discretionary

A routine change of leadership on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is looking more like a power struggle in a legislative body that carries weight in public finance policy and rulings. On Wednesday Rep. Rick Crawford ,R-Ark., formally announced he was running for the Chairmanship of the T&I Committee while Rep. Sam Graves,

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined NewEdge Securities, the brokerage arm of NewEdge Capital Group $90,000, in addition to restitution of $44,927.83 for charging unfair prices on 62 corporate bond transactions and six municipal bond transactions. Along with the fine and restitution, the firm has been censured for violating FINRA Rules 2121 and 2010,

President Biden reignited the tax debate in his State of the Union address Wednesday, touting the progress he’s made so far in his three years in office and the amount of work still needed to be done on taxes, setting up a larger partisan battle for the coming year. “The way to make the tax

One tool aimed at helping to solve California’s notorious affordable housing crisis appears to be headed for a crisis of its own. Defaults are rising on highly leveraged unrated workforce housing bonds, primarily issued over the last few years in California to purchase apartment buildings, when interest rates were near zero. So far, six out

A group of investors have challenged the legality of the Regents of the University of California’s ability to trigger an extraordinary redemption provision to refund their outstanding Build America Bonds. This may not be the last challenge as several issuers have made clear they intend to use the ERP to refund billions of their outstanding

Fitch Ratings upgraded the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s $1 billion of outstanding transportation revenue bonds (TRBs) to AA from A. The New York City subway system is part of the MTA. “A healthy credit rating is more than just a score, it can attract investors and lower interest rates at which the bonds are

Municipal bond mutual funds saw much larger inflows Thursday and the ninth consecutive week of high-yield inflows while there was a firmer bid in the secondary market but munis underperformed U.S. Treasuries for the second session. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell testified for the second day before Congress, during which he said before cutting

Huntington National Bank has brought on Citi’s entire Midwest public finance banking group, with Samantha Costanzo being named head of public finance, the fourth woman to lead a municipal banking division in the industry. She will be based in Chicago. Jurl Vinegar and Rupi Jain are also joining as director of public finance and associate

Treasury this week released closely watched final rules for renewable energy tax credits that will be available for the first time to cities and states and that could drive an uptick in power deals and bond financings. “If direct pay works, if we can get through the hurdle of the mechanics, there will be a

A Houston City Council vote Wednesday on initial financing for a $2.55 billion terminal renovation project at George Bush Intercontinental Airport was once again stalled by the city controller’s office. An advisory from Mayor John Whitmire’s office late last week indicated the city was finally ready to move the project forward with the placement of

Harvest Gold Silica Inc. filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court this week, after defaulting on bonds it sold through the Arizona Industrial Development Authority (AZIDA) in 2019.  The case, pending in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, follows two other bankruptcy filings over the past year by entities that sold

Andrew Belinfanti Knight has been hired by Siebert Williams Shank as a managing director of public finance, the firm announced on Wednesday. A 16-year veteran of the municipal bond sector, he will work out of the firm’s Los Angeles office. Belinfanti Knight has worked on over $20 billion of senior managed transactions in municipal finance