Bonds

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board sent a fiscal 2022 General Fund budget 0.67% larger than the current fiscal year budget to the Puerto Rico legislature. The board submitted its $10.112 billion budget to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and Senate Monday. The current fiscal year’s budget is $10.045 billion, which has seen revenues coming

Courtney Shea, a 35-plus-year public finance veteran, has been elected to Assured Guaranty’s Board of Directors. “I have long admired Assured Guaranty’s contribution to public finance, as well as its experienced management team, disciplined credit culture and resilience through periods of economic distress,” Shea said. “I look forward with enthusiasm to helping assess strategic priorities

After 13 months of suggesting it may have to change the debt restructuring deal for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the Puerto Rico Oversight Board officially threw its support behind the deal in court filings Tuesday. The board also filed a new amended plan of adjustment and proposed disclosure statement on terms from the

Municipal yields rose Wednesday on the back of a rising U.S. Treasury market, a sell-off in equities amid inflation concerns and push back from investors in the primary that led to higher yields on new-issues. Triple-A benchmark yields rose two to four basis points across the curve while municipal to UST ratios closed at 60%

Chicago and Illinois will make their case with the Treasury Department to alter American Rescue Plan guidance that in its current form would scuttle plans to repay COVID-19 related borrowing with the aid. The Treasury’s eagerly awaited guidance lays out in 151 pages how local and state and tribal governments can use their share of

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board is clashing with the Puerto Rico legislature on the privatization of the island’s electrical transmission and distribution system. Board Executive Director Natalie Jaresko on Saturday sent a letter to the leaders of Puerto Rico House of Representatives and Puerto Rico Senate telling lawmakers the board would give them until 11:59

Municipal bonds faced some pressure in secondary trading making for a weaker tone as investors ignored the risk-off trade and U.S. Treasuries rose while equities lost ground, but new issues provided a distraction to outside volatility and priced to strong demand. Triple-A benchmark yields rose one basis point across the curve while municipal to UST

The Detroit Charter Review Commission is forging ahead with proposed city charter revisions that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer refused to approve as presented to her and Mayor Mike Duggan warns could trigger a return to Chapter 9. The commission voted late last week to approve the submission of Proposal P to the city clerk asking to

With the clock ticking on the deadline to pass a state budget, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker removed one contentious issue from the table by agreeing to fund a scheduled $350 million increase in school aid. In fiscal 2021, Pritzker had bypassed the scheduled $350 million annual increase required under the evidence-based formula adopted in 2017

Updates with state of Alabama respinse and to show that Stifel says bond transaction ceased after underwriter withdrew it from the market. May 10, 2021 8:48 PM EDT Updates with state of Alabama respinse and to show that Stifel says bond transaction ceased after underwriter withdrew it from the market. May 10, 2021 8:48 PM

Bond issuers in Montana and Texas have separately reported an adverse impact on the tax-exempt status of their bonds in new public disclosures with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. In Texas, the MSRB filing involved Series 2015 El Paso County General Obligation Refunding Bonds. The Internal Revenue Service sent a letter dated April 28 informing

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said he has “zero sympathy” for critics on Wall Street, who slam the central bank’s aggressive support of the U.S. economy while millions of Americans remain out of work. “For my friends on Wall Street, and I have a lot of them, I hear from them all

Hilltop Securities Inc., the third-biggest adviser on bonds issued by U.S. states and local governments, sued a former employee for allegedly stealing confidential files before leaving for competitor RBC Capital Markets. Hilltop claims Alex Bugallo, a former managing director in its Orlando, Florida, office, downloaded client debt analyses, spreadsheets and client contacts to a flash

The Treasury is expected to suspend the sale of State and Local Government Series securities at the beginning of August if there is no congressional deal to raise the debt limit. Suspension of SLGS sales is used by the Treasury as it takes extraordinary measures to prevent breaching the nation’s debt ceiling. Susan Gaffney, spokeswoman

Chicago conducted a full court press with investors Thursday to assure them that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t pushed the city’s efforts to reach structural balance and fixing its pension quagmire to the backburner. Mayor Lori Lightfoot stressed the city’s commitment to protect reserves and use a portion of its $1.9 billion from the federal American

Guam’s government is planning to sell $282.6 million of speculative grade bonds, most of them triple-tax-exempt and forward delivery the week of May 17. Guam has released a preliminary official statement with an unspecified May pricing date, but Moody’s Investors Service said it believes the bonds will be priced May 19. Gov. Lou Leon Guerreo

Municipal triple-A benchmarks firmed Friday after a less-than-stellar employment report while a lackluster new-issue calendar awaits investors, with strong underlying technicals keeping rates low. Volume is estimated at $6.569 billion for the week of May 10, up from total sales of $1.840 billion the week of May 3. The supply-demand imbalance, solid fund inflows and

U.S. consumer credit climbed in March by more than forecast, highlighting an increased willingness to borrow as economic activity resumes. Total credit rose $25.8 billion from the prior month after a $26.1 billion gain in February, Federal Reserve figures showed Friday. On an annualized basis, borrowing rose 7.4% in March. Economists in a Bloomberg survey

To showcase Rhode Island’s progress on school construction, state General Treasurer Seth Magaziner spoke in front of the $189 million East Providence High School scheduled to open in the fall. The old building, which opened in 1951, was part of a cookie-cutter system that a school district in Texas adapted from East Providence. That Texas

A rising appetite for risk across a variety of asset markets is stretching valuations and creating vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system, the Federal Reserve said in its semi-annual financial stability report. “Vulnerabilities associated with elevated risk appetite are rising,” Fed Governor Lael Brainard, the head of the Board’s financial stability committee, said in a

Stifel Financial Corp. is being urged to pull out of a controversial municipal bond financing for two privately owned prisons in Alabama that activists have described as “toxic.” The funding plan has not moved forward after two other banks set to underwrite the $634 million publicly offered bond issue — Barclays and KeyBanc Capital Markets

Bond insurers Assured Guaranty, Ltd. and National Public Finance Guaranty Corp. formalized their support for Puerto Rico revenue bond and central government bond deals Wednesday. Assured Guaranty President Dominic Frederico said Puerto Rico deals in the works address the “vast majority” of Assured’s Puerto Rico exposure.Bloomberg News The insurers announced they had signed a plan

Gov. Pedro Pierluisi vetoed a Puerto Rico legislative measure that would have delayed the privatization of the transmission and distribution system for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. In his veto on Wednesday Pierluisi said the bill was unconstitutional since it undermined contractual obligations with LUMA Energy. The bill was also inconsistent with the Puerto

The Chicago City Council’s adoption of a monthly revenue reporting requirement in an effort to avoid 11th hour disclosures of tax shocks drew a positive response from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s, the one rating agency with a junk rating on Chicago, called the move a “credit positive.” “The mandate will significantly increase the frequency and

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday signed legislation allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees. “Arizona is a school choice state, and today’s action is school choice for higher education,” Ducey said of Senate Bill 1453, which passed the legislature last week. “It will allow students even more opportunities as they strengthen their education and

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she was not predicting or recommending interest-rate increases when remarking earlier about the impact of fiscal spending on the U.S. economy. Earlier on Tuesday Yellen caused a set of hiccups in financial markets when she said the Biden administration’s spending measures will likely provoke a rise in interest rates. Treasury

Colorado’s $34 billion budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 restores most spending cuts imposed during the pandemic that began a year ago. The so-called “Long Bill,” SB21-205, won final passage in the General Assembly last week and awaits Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. “This budget not only restores the cuts that we were forced

In 2016, the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) was under a federal court order to fix its combined sewer system, which dumped raw sewage into the nearby Potomac River after heavy rains. The price tag was steep: nearly $1 billion for the planned installation of just one of three massive tunnels

Fiscally solvent school districts Illinois increased in fiscal 2020 even as they navigated COVID-19’s impact on operations. Of the state’s 851 districts, 728 landed in the top category of financial recognition based on fiscal 2020 results, up from 706 for fiscal 2019 and 697 in 2019, according to the Illinois Board of Education’s 2021 fiscal

Municipal secondary markets were lightly traded and benchmark yields were little changed on a quiet Monday in which U.S. Treasuries were slightly stronger and all muni eyes are on the week’s new-issues, led by large state general obligation deals along with a diversity of credits from which to choose. This month brings a larger calendar