Bonds

Puerto Rico leaders and analysts highlighted fiscal risks facing Puerto Rico’s central government, including a change in how multinationals are taxed, that could, if unresolved, jeopardize future bond payments. At the Puerto Rico Oversight Board meeting Wednesday, board Executive Director Robert Mujica Jr. said the government faced major risks in the coming fiscal years, including

Municipals were mostly steady in secondary trading Wednesday with the focus on the primary market as New York City saw yields rise significantly on the short end as institutional investors demanded more ahead of a growing New York issuance slate. U.S. Treasuries were firmer and equities ended down. The Investment Company Institute reported inflows into

The city of Los Angeles will receive nearly $60 million in long-awaited federal reimbursements from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover housing expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a larger $300 million package of pandemic-related funding. City officials learned of the reimbursements from the California Office of Emergency Services in one

Morgan Stanley has hired four former Citi public finance employees, becoming the latest firm to tap the talent from Citi’s shuttered municipal business. Three of the new hires will be group heads in key public sector and structured finance businesses, a source said. Alex Zaman is the new head of Surface Transportation and Urban Development

Proponents of the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act which could expand aggie bond issuance are pessimistic about the possibility of any congressional movement this year.  Versions of MAMBA have been bouncing around in both houses of Congress since 2017 as a proposed bipartisan update to regulations governing aggie bonds. The legislation is also designed

Legal challenges to New York City’s congestion pricing plan threaten to delay much-needed repairs to the city’s century-old transit system, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said.  The authority on Monday cautioned that repairs on elevated rail lines, upgrades on substations to keep power running and maintaining shop and yard facilities — all deemed state-of-good-repair work —

Norton Rose Fulbright hired public finance lawyers Alison Radecki as a partner and Helen Pennock as a senior counsel. Both will work in the firm’s New York City office and formerly worked at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. They are licensed to practice in New York. Radecki has more than two decades of experience helping issuers

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy Tuesday unveiled a $55.9 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2025 that would impose a new Corporate Transit Fee on the state’s largest and wealthiest corporations to create a “new, dedicated, and permanent funding stream” for NJ Transit. The fee, which would affect about 600 companies with net taxable income greater

The Biden administration is expected to announce a $1.5 billion federal loan to repower a shuttered Michigan nuclear plant, marking a first for the U.S. as the administration’s seeks to move the country toward 100% carbon-free power in the coming decades. The Palisades power plant in southwest Michigan, owned now by Holtec International, was decommissioned

As the climate change debate continues, and with a potentially strong hurricane season forecast, Municipal Market Analytics said states may be forced to intercede in private insurance markets. “A year of hypothetically larger catastrophic and secondary natural disasters would renew pressure on the states to intervene more directly in their private insurance markets to minimize

An open letter to our stakeholders: Recently, the MSRB withdrew its 2024 rate card fee filing with the SEC. This action raised questions like: Why did this happen? What does it mean for the market? What’s next? These are all important questions, and the purpose of this letter is to explain recent events, their impact

Colleges of all stripes are facing a much-discussed “demographic cliff,” with enrollment numbers already declining at many institutions. Multiple private colleges have seen downward outlook revisions from credit rating agencies due to declining enrollment and its attendant drop in tuition revenue combined with high debt levels. Yet public universities and community colleges in the Midwest

Municipals were steady in secondary trading Tuesday as several large deals in the primary market took focus, including the retail pricing for the $1.5 billion-plus deal of general obligation bonds from New York City. U.S. Treasury yields rose 10 years and out and equities were mixed near the end of the trading session. Other large

Oklahoma will stop collecting state sales tax on groceries under a bill signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Kevin Stitt, who said he is still seeking a reduction in personal income taxes. The elimination of the 4.5% sales tax, which will cost the state around $400 million annually, was overwhelmingly passed by lawmakers. “By cutting

Broker dealers are divided over whether small firms should be dealt more relaxed regulation and compliance standards, or be subject to uniform standards that treat large Wall Street banks and single person firms the same in the eyes of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. The dueling sentiments came through in response to the MSRB’s request

Changes in leadership at the U.S. Treasury haven’t changed the fact that the Office of Tax Policy is still missing a go-to expert with a deep background in tax-exempt bonds, leaving lawyers and other stakeholders to adjust and with some worries it could eventually be a problem. The OTP is responsible for developing and implementing

Guam Waterworks Authority plans to refund between $134 million and $159 million of revenue bonds and offer a tender on $161.1 million of taxable bonds. “Guam bonds, the only investment-grade, triple tax-exempt paper on the market, always garner excitement amongst investors,” said Lester Carlson, director of Guam’s Bureau of Budget and Management Research. “We anticipate

When Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza this month launched a new online portal to track state spending on asylum seekers, state residents gained a window onto a major piece of the local government spending pie, with the city of Chicago and Cook County also spending millions on the migrant crisis. As of Feb. 27, the new

Interstate 35, which cuts through the heart of downtown Austin, Texas, is set to undergo a major expansion that state transportation officials say is necessary to bring relief to one of the state’s most clogged highways that will only get more congested as the population continues to grow. Austin has seen its population double every 20

Municipals were steady to start the week as investors await the larger new-issue slate, outperforming U.S. Treasuries, while equities were mixed near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 58%, the three-year at 57%, the five-year at 56%, the 10-year at 57% and the 30-year at 81%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s

Municipal bond market veteran Ted Hynes has been promoted to become head of Raymond James fixed-income sales, the firm announced Monday. Based in New York City, Hynes has almost 40 years of experience in the fixed-income markets. He will lead a sales force of more than 150 professionals serving institutional fixed income investors comprised of