Bonds

A court ruling against Philadelphia requiring a nearly $50 million payment to major commercial property owners threatens recent strides attained by the city’s cash-strapped school district. Common Pleas Court Judge Gene Cohen ruled in favor of some large commercial property owners who had argued that their 2018 tax assessments were unfairly spiked. The decision orders

A Louisiana woman has filed a lawsuit contending that the State Bond Commission unlawfully excluded two investment banks from underwriting its bonds because of their corporate gun policies. The Bond Commission, which voted last year to prohibit Citi and Bank of America Merrill Lynch from participating in the state’s first issuance of grant anticipation revenue

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board found only a muted market impact to date from May 2018 rule requiring dealers to disclose their compensation for retail customer transactions, commonly known as markup and markdown. But the analysis released Friday, Mark-up Disclosure and Trading in the Municipal Bond Market, also pointed out that previous research on similar

The municipal bond market is expected to attract inflows at least for the next week. After that the ball’s in the Federal Open Market Committee’s court. “Another week, another muni inflow,” Dan Heckman, senior fixed-income strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management said. “The new supply coming in next week is not enough to feed the

The municipal bond market saw several large deals hit the screens on Thursday led by a Centennial State issuer. Primary marketJPMorgan Securities priced the Colorado Health Facilities Authority’s (Aa2/AA/AA) $484 million of Series 2019A and Series 2019B hospital revenue bonds for the AdventHealth Obligated Group. Goldman Sachs priced the Port of Seattle, Washington’s (A1/A+/AA-) $460

Municipal bond buyers saw some big note and bond deals hit the market on Wednesday, led by issuers in Georgia and Colorado. “The muni market continues to grind lower and ratios are trending back down to yearly lows,” one southern trader said. “I am not sure how much lower we can go.” He added that

The Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday announced that it has settled charges against two California firms and an individual accused of acting as unregistered municipal advisors or benefiting from those actions. The SEC settled with Dale Scott & Company, Inc., a registered municipal advisor based in San Francisco, and also with Wayne Oetken and consulting

As Wisconsin prepares to sell $223 million of general obligation paper Tuesday, the finance team is highlighting an improved outlook from one rating agency and a bulked up rainy day fund fund to counter any frowns on the budget’s draw down of reserves. Kroll Bond Rating Agency revised the outlook on the state’s AA-plus rating

CHICAGO — The judge overseeing Preston Hollow Capital LLC’s lawsuit accusing Nuveen Investments of bullying banks to boycott the private lender dropped a defamation claim against the investment behemoth. Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III’s ruling during a hearing Thursday follows his May decision to drop one count of tortious interference with a

The Federal Emergency Management Agency drew fire in the U.S. house of Representatives over the slow pace of aid for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes. Members of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery on Thursday lambasted FEMA for failing to send a representative to

The municipal bond market will continue to see a swarm of mid-sized deals that will be taken down with ease, continuing the good times that have been fueled by 27 straight weeks of fund inflows. The muni market is estimated to see 16 deals scheduled in the $100 million or larger size, with the expectation

Demographic constraints that challenge Vermont’s long-term revenue picture cost the New England state its lone remaining triple-A rating. Fitch Ratings downgraded the Green Mountain State’s general obligation bonds one notch to AA-plus Thursday citing slower growth prospects amid an older population with limited chances at near-term growth. A scene in Strafford, Vermont, where the state

Goshen Health, a rural Indiana hospital that has bucked the negative trends experienced by many of its counterparts nationally, will sell $70 million of debt Thursday to finance a four-story patient tower. The bonds will sell through the Indiana Finance Authority and are secured by a gross receivables pledge. Barclays is the senior manager. The

A sales tax increase for New York’s Westchester County should provide new recurring revenue to restore structural balance after years of weak reserve levels, according to S&P Global Ratings. The suburban county on New York City’s northern border will raise its sale tax rate one percentage point to 8.375% on Aug. 1. The move follows

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board sued Gov. Ricardo Rosselló over unauthorized spending and lack of financial discipline, part of a conflict that one analyst said augurs a poor fiscal future for the commonwealth. The board’s action came last week when it filed an adversary proceeding in the Title III bankruptcy court, the U.S. District Court

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill dissolving the Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority, despite analysts’ warnings that another wave of rating downgrades could result. The warning was realized Friday, when Moody’s Investors Service downgraded to A3 from A2 the authority’s debt, saying that the action was taken in response to House Bill 385 being signed.

The muni market is ready to pick up where it left off. Municipals have seen robust demand for the entirety of the year thus far and after a little break, it should be back to business as usual. Meanwhile, another deal — a Charleston, South Carolina, water deal — is set to price using the

The fate of two Ohio nuclear reactors operated by bankrupt FirstEnergy Solutions hangs in the balance as lawmakers continue to weigh the costs of a bailout plan. If passed the legislation would create upside for holders of roughly $2 billion of debt issued by FirstEnergy because it would enhance and assure what can be paid

Ohio-based Fairfield Medical Center’s fiscal woes tied to a new billing and collection system may push its credit rating on $90 million of outstanding hospital revenue bonds into junk and could trigger a breach of debt-service covenants. Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday placed the hospital’s Baa3 rating on review for a downgrade. The rating agency

Louisiana will become the second state to securitize payments it receives to compensate for the Deepwater Horizon disaster, using the income to pay for planned-but-unfunded transportation projects. Gov. John Bel Edwards signed Act 443 on Monday, placing House Bill 578 into law and authorizing the use of the oil spill disaster funds to back $700

Municipal bond investors saw little supply price into a strong market on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s early session close before the Fourth of July holiday. Janney: 1H was strong for munisThe first half of 2019 was good for municipal bond investors, Alan Schankel, managing director and municipal strategist at Janney, writes in a monthly market

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board filed a lawsuit Sunday against fuel suppliers and laboratories for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, in a suit that could gain billions of dollars for the struggling electrical utility. The causes of the suit are the same as those cited in a 2015 one against PREPA, certain PREPA professionals,

Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain has ruled that holders of Employees Retirement System bonds are not entitled to continued payment in bankruptcy, saying among other things that the bonds’ revenues weren’t protected “special revenues.” Swain issued her ruling in an adversary proceeding on Thursday. It affects $3.2 billion of ERS bonds in default

Municipal bond traders will be walking into a holiday-shortened week with what little issuance there is on the calendar jammed into two days ahead of the July 4 holiday on Thursday and an early close on Wednesday. There are fewer than $1 billion of bonds and notes up for sale in the upcoming week. As

Puerto Rico’s May revenue was the highest of any May on record. The net revenue of $922 million was 19.9% above the November 23 projection for May revenues. The November projection was itself an increase from the Puerto Rico Oversight Board’s projections associated with its June 28, 2018-approved fiscal 2019 budget. The government is now

Chicago will terminate $1.4 billion of short-term borrowing programs, saving the city about $22 million in fiscal year 2020, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday. The termination of the lines of credit and commercial paper programs resulted from improved cash flow forecasting and reporting done by the city, the mayor said. The $22 million in savings

In the waning days of fiscal 2019, Puerto Rico’s Oversight Board and local government appear to be headed toward a confrontation over the next year’s budget. The plan is supposed to be in place by the end of Sunday, which is the last day of the current fiscal year. House President Carlos Méndez Núñez, Senate

On a rainy day in New York City, municipal buyers saw a steady stream of deals flow into the market on Tuesday, led by water offerings from New York City and Ohio. Primary marketRaymond James & Associates priced the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority’s (Aa1/AA+/AA+) $461.31 million of Fiscal 2020 Series AA water

Citi is losing another top-tier employee to retirement, as Ward Marsh announced his intentions to call it quits after 45 years of service, effective at a later date this summer. The current Chairman of Global Spread Products, which includes Munis, Securitized Products and Credit. Marsh got started at the firm’s predecessor company Smith Barney in

Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest in the nation, sustained a rating cut after its parcel tax measure failed to win voter approval earlier this month. Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday lowered the district’s general obligation bond one level to Aa3. The downgrade affects $10.2 billion in outstanding debt. The Measure EE parcel