Bonds

Norton Rose Fulbright has hired public-private partnership and infrastructure attorney Patrick Harder to co-head the firm’s U.S. and North America infrastructure groups. Harder joins Norton Rose after 20 years at Nossaman LLP, where he was a leader in the U.S. P3 space and was partner and chair of the infrastructure group. He will co-chair Norton’s

Municipals were slightly weaker as the focus turned to a large new-issue day with deals upsized and accelerated. The asset class followed U.S. Treasuries to higher yields while equities closed the session up. Triple-A yields rose one to five basis points, depending on the curve, while UST yields rose up to four basis points. The

Mikhail Foux, Managing Director and Head Municipal Research & Strategy at Barclays, discusses the increasing retail concentration of muni ownership as fewer institutional investors are engaging in the asset class due to various regulatory and tax-policy related issues and what it means for munis during times of volatility. Bond Buyer Executive Editor Lynne Funk hosts.

Brodie Killian has moved to PFM Financial Advisors from Stifel Nicolas & Co., joining its Ann Arbor office as a director. The move represents the capstone achievement of Killian’s broad career in the municipal bond market, he told The Bond Buyer.  “My past experience gives me a unique perspective as a municipal advisor who has

The private sector has until the end of April to submit unsolicited proposals for transportation projects to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. PennDOT’s Office of Public-Private Partnerships, one of the country’s most active P3 state DOT agencies, accepts unsolicited P3 bids twice a year, in April and October. Interested companies can submit proposals “offering innovative

The not-for-profit healthcare sector continues to face challenges, including a high number of bond covenant violations, which can provide an early warning of payment defaults, said Lisa Washburn, chief credit officer and managing director for Municipal Market Analytics.   “The hospital sector has definitely seen improvement since the worst of 2022, but I would still

The late March collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge raises questions about the age and resiliency of U.S. infrastructure that engineers and the finance industry will need to address together. That’s the view of Maria Lehman, immediate past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, GHD’s infrastructure market leader for the United States

Bond insurance continued its upward trajectory in the first quarter of 2024, leading the two top municipal bond insurers to expand. Municipal bond insurance grew 24.4% in the first quarter of the 2024 year-over-year. The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped $7.132 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up from the $5.735 billion of

The City of Richmond, Virginia is changing course on a nearly $280 million bond issuance that will build a new minor league baseball stadium anchoring a $2.4 billion mixed-use project on 67-acres just northwest of downtown Richmond.  Last week the Diamond District project, which includes retail, housing, and office space took a public financing turn when the

Geopolitical turmoil roiled markets Friday, sending investors on a flight-to-safety trade into U.S. Treasuries while equities sold off after news reports that Israel was bracing for an attack by Iran on government targets and that China was providing Russia with drone and missile components.  Municipal bonds followed USTs as yields fell in both asset classes

Spreads on Build America Bonds have widened “significantly” in the last few months amid a wave of refinancings despite a debate over the legal ability of issuers to call the debt, according to municipal bond strategists. So far this year, the BABs index option-adjust spread has cheapened 10bps compared to the ICE Broad Taxable Municipal

Municipals were mixed Thursday in secondary trading as focus shifted to California’s nearly $1.5 billion of tax-exempt and taxable general obligation bond deals in the competitive market while U.S. Treasuries were weaker out long after Wednesday’s short-end selloff and equities were in the black at the close. Triple-A yield curves saw a mix of bumps

Celebrating Ohio’s “highest possible credit rating,” Gov. Mike DeWine on Wednesday delivered his State of the State address to the General Assembly at the statehouse in Columbus. DeWine centered his speech around the children of the state, on whom he said the future depends. He gestured to his new great-granddaughter, Betty Jane, up in the

S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday upgraded its long-term rating on Detroit’s unlimited-tax general obligation debt to investment grade, raising it to BBB from BB-plus. The outlook is stable. The rating agency said the change reflected a stronger financial position and its “increased confidence in the city’s ability to sustain balance within the construct of its

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed amendments to its Rule G-47 on time of trade disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which would add three new disclosure scenarios, update its definition of materiality in relation to the rule, and provide a few clarifying details as supplementary material. The MSRB approved the amendments during

Munis were a touch firmer in spots Tuesday as the primary market ramped up and investors awaited Wednesday’s inflation report to give further guidance on Fed rate cuts. U.S. Treasuries were firmer and equities were mixed at the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Tuesday was at 65%, the three-year at 64%, the five-year at 61%,

States and municipalities across the United States are continuing to invest in Israel bonds as the war between the state of Israel and Hamas spills over into its seventh month. Since war broke out after the U.S-designated terrorist organization Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, over $1.639 billion of Israel bonds have been sold to

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots Monday ahead of a rebound in issuance that tops $8.5 billion. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities were up. Triple-A yield curves saw yields rise up to three basis points, depending on the scale, further softening ahead of a growing new-issue slate and the last week before

Big spending in Washington D.C.’s downtown is crashing up against a need to hold the line on cutting the city’s budget reserve funds.   “We have to worry about liquidity,” said Glen Lee, the district’s Chief Financial Officer. “And unlike other jurisdictions, we have to deal with the Congress. We are a creature of the Congress

In a ceremony watched by thousands of issuers, the White House Thursday unveiled an overhaul of how it sends billions of federal funds to cities, states and nonprofits in an effort to cut red tape, expand the pool of grant recipients and simplify reporting and compliance. “The changes being finalized and announced today are historic