Bonds

The top bond counsel firms combined for a total of $220.03 billion in 6,077 transactions in the first half of 2021, up from the $191.51 billion in 5,124 deals in the first half of 2020. Only one firm remained in the same spot they were at this point last year, the rest of the rankings

eMerge Americas, a venture-backed platform focused on changing Miami into the tech hub of the Americas, closed a round of investment led by Florida Funders, the firm announced on Tuesday. Florida Funders is a a venture capital fund and an angel investor network, and its investment in eMerge Americas is aimed at helping Miami’s tech

Investor focus turned solely to the $3 billion new-issue slate, as secondary trading took a back seat to digesting the massive New York Thruway, San Francisco and North Carolina competitive loans while negotiated deals saw big bumps in repricings. A pull-back in the U.S. Treasury rally had levels back up out longer by as much

Municipals underperformed a flight-to-safety rally in U.S. Treasuries as COVID-19 and its variants surge around the globe, pushing edgy investors to flee the stock market, as some contemplate the idea the economic recovery has peaked, and will potentially regress from the virus’ effects. Municipal triple-A benchmarks were pushed to lower yields by one to three

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has completed work on a white paper calling for targeted emergency event disclosures from state and local governments. The document, dated June but announced earlier this month by NFMA, is the final draft of a paper first floated in March. While the paper focuses on COVID-19 disclosure, NFMA has

Richard “Dick” L. Weill, 78, a pioneer in the financial guaranty insurance industry and former vice chairman of MBIA Insurance Corporation, died on July 4. With over 40 years of experience in the municipal bond industry, Weill was a former partner and municipal bond attorney at Kutak Rock before joining MBIA in 1989 as general

Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden grew up in Hartford’s impoverished North End. “I know how the cycle of poverty helped push people back,” he said. That helped shape his push for his “passion project” for the past legislative session — CT Baby Bonds. The program, which Wooden calls first in the nation, took effect June 30

Florida has seen 14 straight months of job growth, gaining 69,300 private sector jobs in June, the state’s Department of Economic Opportunity said Friday. June’s increase was more than double the May gain of 34,600 jobs and the largest rise of the year. Since the height of the pandemic in April 2020, Florida has gained

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois trimmed its spread penalties in the first primary outing of an Illinois-linked borrower to reap the benefits of the state’s positive rating momentum. The agency that manages Chicago’s downtown convention center campus priced $811 million of refunding bonds Thursday. It saw a 98 basis point spread to

Municipals ended the week steady along with U.S. Treasuries ahead of one of the more diverse and chunky calendars the summer has seen while supply still simply isn’t keeping up with demand, which should keep municipal yields in a tight range. The total potential volume for next week is estimated at $9.033 billion, up from total

Chicago is searching for a financial advisor to help assess development proposals as it looks to stake out a share of the casino gambling market with the promise of a roughly $200 million annual jackpot. The city launched a request for qualifications for an advisor July 14 to help evaluate proposals it receives from a

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the question of whether to nominate Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for a second term is a conversation for her and President Joe Biden, declining to give her opinion in a televised interview. “That’s a discussion I’m going to have with the president,” Yellen said Thursday on CNBC. The

Brian Egan will join the National Association of Bond Lawyers as its next director of governmental affairs Aug. 2. The announcement of the experienced policy advocate comes just weeks after NABL bid farewell to Jessica Giroux, who had represented the group’s interests in Washington for more than three years. Egan brings experience advocating on behalf

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board reached a verbal agreement with bond insurers on a debt repayment plan on Wednesday, two days after they reached an agreement with unsecured creditors representing the largest debt holders in the negotiations. Lawyers at Proskauer Rose LLP representing the Oversight Board, and federal Judge Laura Taylor Swain, agreed to delay

Chicago Public Schools laid out a proposed $9.3 billion fiscal 2022 budget that directs $707 million towards capital and spends down about $1 billion of the district’s $2.6 billion of federal relief to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 raises spending by about $900 million

Municipals were little changed Tuesday, ignoring another rise in U.S. Treasuries and a weaker stock market, with the focus on the primary which saw deals bumped in repricings. Another day of UST weakness after less-than-stellar auctions and municipals stayed in their own lane. Some participants said without the UST rise in yields, municipal benchmarks likely

Consumer price spikes, which in June surged the most since 2008, will likely be a temporary feature of an economy that’s quickly recovering from the pandemic, said Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly. Daly, who said she is “bullish” about the economy going into the fall, said it’s now appropriate for the

Municipals were little changed with a slightly weaker tone outside of 10 years Monday ahead of a larger and diverse primary as the second week of July reinvestment kicks into gear. U.S. Treasuries fluctuated but held mostly steady after midday auctions. The 30-year UST sat just at 2% near the close while triple-A municipal benchmark

White Plains, New York, and the bond insurer for debt the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency issued to build a downtown parking garage are at odds over who is on the hook for a looming $1.7 million bond payment for the facility. ACA Financial Guaranty of nearby Rye insured the bonds. The next payment is

Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi on Thursday proposed removing pension cuts from the island’s debt restructuring negotiations, asking legislators instead to deal with the issue in regular budget negotiations. Observers say the move is political and unlikely to help parties come to consensus over the pension issues, and further complicates getting the Plan of Adjustment