Bonds

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has re-established two key advisory groups for its 2022 fiscal year: the Compliance Advisory Group (CAG) and the Municipal Fund Securities Advisory Group (MFSAG). The MSRB is also seeking input on topics it should consider in developing compliance resources and tools for municipal fund securities. In a November 11 announcement,

Municipal bonds were slightly weaker Friday inside 10 years, but trading was light and munis still outperformed U.S. Treasuries, which weakened further on the day from Wednesday’s large sell-off. Investors put nearly $2 billion into municipal bond mutual funds for the most recent week with high-yield reversing a downward course to hit $1.2 billion following

Two sets of teachers’ unions and a judiciary association filed separate challenges to a Puerto Rico Oversight Board pension law interpretation the board has said is necessary to enact of the Plan of Adjustment. The teachers’ unions filed in the final hour before the 5 p.m. AST Friday deadline that Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura

Gov. Phil Murphy’s surprisingly narrow re-election victory and Senate President Steve Sweeney’s stunning loss to an unknown resonated well beyond New Jersey. National pundits flagged the election-night drama, along with Republican Glenn Youngkin’s gubernatorial victory in Virginia over Terry McAuliffe and other developments, as warning signs for Democrats heading into national midterm elections. New Jersey

A federal judge in Michigan signed off on a $626.25 million settlement that resolves litigation over the state’s role in the Flint water contamination crisis, closing one chapter of the debacle as legal cases proceed on other tracks against former state officials and bond underwriters. The state sold $603 million of taxable bonds in June

States would enjoy more private activity bond volume flexibility under an affordable housing provision in the Build Back Better bill. The legislation would reduce the so-called financing test for tax-exempt private activity bonds to 25% from 50%. Lowering the threshold would free up states’ private activity volume for more affordable housing, or any other projects

Robin Prunty, chief analytical officer, U.S. Public Finance at S&P Global Ratings, and Arlesa Wood, director of bond administration for Miami-Dade County, Florida, have been named the private and public sector winners of 2021’s Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance. Along with Prunty and Wood, the Northeast Women in Public Finance have

The jockeying has begun among Illinois political leaders, labor and planning organizations as they stake out their priorities for the state’s more than $17 billion share of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that awaits President Biden’s signature. State Senate President Don Harmon and House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, both Democrats, put their support behind the

It was a good day to be an issuer in the municipal primary market. With U.S. Treasuries rallying, municipals followed with triple-A benchmark yields falling as much as five basis points out long and more than $6 billion of new issues were digested in both competitive and negotiated markets, some deals seeing large repricings to

Connecticut Treasury has selected State Street Bank & Trust as the master custodian bank for the $61 billion Connecticut Retirement Plan and Trust Funds and the internally managed funds, state Treasurer Shawn Wooden announced. Boston-based State Street will also be an investment account manager for Connecticut’s $12.5 billion Short-Term Investment Fund, or STIF. Wooden’s office

Municipals were steady on Monday as all eyes were on the more than $9 billion of supply headed to the primary in a holiday-shortened week. “The municipal market is focused on the number of deals being priced Tuesday and Wednesday,” a New York underwriter said Monday, pointing to the Veteran’s Day market close on Thursday.

S&P Global Ratings revised the city of Miami’s outlook to stable from negative and affirmed the AA-minus long-term rating and underlying rating on the city’s limited ad valorem and non-ad valorem bonds. “The outlook revision reflects our view of the demonstrated stability in the city’s operating budget through the COVID-19 pandemic and our expectation that

Moody’s Investors Service returned Chicago O’Hare International Airport’s outlook to stable as traffic levels rebound from last year’s pandemic-induced drop and the city slows its pace of borrowing for the facility. All four rating agencies moved the airport’s outlook to negative in 2020 as the pandemic crippled air travel. The three others had previously restored

Although 47 of the 61 Plan of Adjustment voting classes in Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy case officially approved it, including all bond classes, confirmation is not certain. Judge Laura Taylor Swain wanted a wide range of support for the plan from the voting classes and appears to have it. But it’s the judge’s decision on Act

The largest infrastructure package in United States history is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk after the House passed the $1.1 trillion bill late Friday. The House passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act by a vote of 228-206 late Friday night after weeks of intense negotiations. It’s been on hold since the Senate’s passage

Municipals were part of a wider fixed income market rally on Friday as high-grade yields were lower by as much as six basis points on the long end, buoyed by the stronger-than-expected October jobs data and upward revisions to nonfarm payrolls numbers for September and August. The rally sustained lower rates, a flat yield curve

President Joe Biden met separately with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Fed Governor Lael Brainard at the White House on Thursday as he considers who will lead the central bank next year, according to people familiar with the matter. He has not yet made a decision, they said. Brainard is regarded as Biden’s likeliest

Eric Adams, New York City’s next mayor, will have to hit the ground running on Jan. 1 when he succeeds fellow Democrat Bill de Blasio, who held the office for eight years and could not seek re-election because of term limits. “The problem is that he won’t have much of a honeymoon,” said Nicole Gelinas,

Municipals were stronger Thursday out longer, while U.S. Treasuries rallied, larger on the shorter end, and Refinitiv Lipper reported $600 million of inflows, the most since mid-September, signaling the fund complex is still engaged in the asset class. Triple-A benchmarks bumped levels by one to three basis points, with the largest moves out longer on

On a day when the Federal Open Market Committee made taper official, equities hit all-time record highs and U.S. Treasuries lost ground, while municipals made gains early on and stuck with them in an actively traded secondary. High-grade benchmark yields fell one to three basis points while USTs ended the day higher after an up-and-down