Bonds

UBS has settled charges with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, agreeing to a censure and a $100,000 fine for failing to include the Non-Transaction Based Compensation indicator when reporting 91,059 municipal securities transactions to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. For this, UBS violated MSRB Rule G-14 on customer transaction reporting, which requires firms to report

First Eagle Investments has hired John Suh and Andrew Belsky as credit analysts as the firm continues to build out its high-yield team under Chief Investment Officer and high-yield manager John Miller. Suh, based in New York, previously was a trader/analyst on the high yield desk in JPMorgan’s public finance division. He was at JPMorgan

In September 2015, then Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gave a speech in which he famously referred to the “Tragedy of the Horizon.” He was referring to the fact that financial markets tend to mis-price climate risk because the perceived timing for such risk lies far into the future, beyond the normal investment horizon

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday saw its issuer rating and debt ratings from Moody’s Investors Service upgraded a notch, to Ba1 from Ba2 — still speculative grade, but one level below investment-grade status. The rating outlook remains positive after the upgrade. Moody’s cited improvements in Chicago Public Schools’ operating fund net cash balance,

Municipal bond insurance grew 10.4% year-over-year in 2023 leading to the highest market penetration rate since 2008, despite a drop in overall bond volume. While municipal issuance ended 2023 slightly down, demand for bond insurance continued to grow as market participants turned to it for investor confidence, increased market liquidity and enhanced credit ratings. The

The U.S. Virgin Islands government is short on cash for its operations and its governor is asking the legislature to borrow $55 million to cover them. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. will send his financial team to a Virgin Islands Senate hearing next week to argue for a change in usage for a letter of credit

The Biden administration Wednesday announced $623 million for cities and states to help build a national electric vehicle charging station network, a prominent piece of the president’s infrastructure agenda that so far has been off to a slow start. The grants mark the first round of funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s $2.5

Municipals continued to experience a short-end correction Wednesday amid a busy day in the primary market which saw Jefferson County, Alabama’s, mega sewer refunding deal price along with a billion-plus of Massachusetts GOs offered to retail. U.S. Treasuries were slightly weaker out long and equities were in the black near the close. The municipal AAA

The Federal Reserve, financial markets, the upcoming election and artificial intelligence took center stage on Tuesday as roughly 1,300 members of Chicago’s business community crowded into a packed ballroom for the Executives’ Club of Chicago’s Annual Economic Outlook panel.  Quoting Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger and Voltaire, the panelists made their predictions for 2024 and shared

The U.S. District Court’s interpretation gave more to Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders than legally allowed, the Puerto Rico Oversight Board told the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Not only are the bondholders wrong in claiming a lien on all revenues coming to PREPA but District Judge Laura Taylor Swain was wrong in awarding

As KBRA enters its 14th year in the business, the rating agency is targeting increased market share, an expansion into new sectors and the expectation for continued growth in 2024.  A robust track record, a team approach, and relying on cross-team verticals to provide a qualitative overlay and outside-the-box analysis led the fourth major rating

Munis were weaker Monday ahead of a $9 billion new-issue slate and the first full week of 2024 while U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended up. Munis “continue to be expensive when compared to Treasuries, falling well below the average of 85% for 10-year munis,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet

The state of Illinois is preparing to issue $600 million in new Build Illinois junior sales tax revenue bonds — 2024 Series A, B and C — in a competitive auction next week.  “Illinois enters the market as cash needs for projects arise,” said Olivia Kuncio, senior deputy press secretary to Gov. JB Pritzker. Rebuild

Municipals were mixed ahead of a new-issue calendar that rebounds to more than $9 billion. U.S. Treasury yields rose further Friday as the December jobs report cast doubt on whether the Fed would start cutting rates in March. Equities were up near the close. There was already “significant upward pressure” on Treasury yields in recent

The U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico ended a Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholder discrimination adversary proceeding, asking parties to raise the issues they have during the plan of adjustment confirmation hearing planned to in early March. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain stayed the proceeding while saying plaintiffs GoldenTree and Syncora Guarantee should

As government funding deadlines loom just weeks away, cities and states face fallout from federal aid cuts, the claw back of pandemic funds and reductions in the always-vulnerable Build America Bond subsidies. The federal government is currently operating under a pair of short-term continuing resolutions that expire within weeks. The departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs,

David Elgart, former president and chief compliance officer of the now defunct Roswell, Georgia-based Sequoia Investments has agreed to settle charges with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for his role in acting as an unregistered dealer between May 2020 and May 2021, accepting a suspended fine. Without admitting or denying the findings, Elgart consented to

From baby bonds to pension funding, 2023 was a year for progress in Connecticut, according to the annual report released Wednesday by State Treasurer Erick Russell. “The work done by our agency often focuses on the long-term — sustained investment success, low-cost infrastructure funding, helping families save for college, and now our landmark ‘CT Baby

Continued financial pressure will impact the nonprofit healthcare system in 2024, Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings analysts said Thursday. “We think we have another tough year ahead of us,” Fitch Senior Director Kevin Holloran said during a webinar. Despite some positives, such as an increase in demand, labor costs remain a major problem for

Bonds used to buy eight senior living properties in Michigan and Ohio are likely to default within six months, S&P Global Ratings said. On Dec. 21, S&P placed bonds issued for Great Lakes Senior Living Communities LLC — already rated deep in the speculative grades at CCC-minus — on CreditWatch with negative implications. The bonds