Bonds

A registered general securities representative has agreed to pay $10,000 to settle Financial Industry Regulatory Authority charges that he violated the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s fair dealing rule when he provided incorrect and misleading account reports to a customer. Antoine Nabih Souma agreed to pay the fine and be subject to a two-month suspension from

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

The Bond Buyer announced the recipients of its annual Deal of the Year awards, marking the 20th year it has recognized outstanding achievement in municipal finance. It will also mark The Bond Buyer’s return to live events, with an awards ceremony at Guastavino’s in New York City on Dec. 16. This will be The Bond

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

Academy Securities expanded its niche in public finance banking this month when it ran books on $206 million of refunding bonds for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The Oct. 21 pricing was the 12-year-old firm’s largest as senior manager in the muni market. “I’ve never worked as a lead book-running manager until this deal,” said James

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.

Fitch Ratings upgraded Chattanooga, Tennessee’s issuer default rating and $150 million of outstanding general obligation bonds to AAA from AA-plus. Also on Thursday, Fitch assigned AAA ratings to the city’s upcoming $12.28 million of Series 2021A GOs and $21.96 million of Series 2021B GO refunding bonds. The bonds are scheduled to competitively around Nov. 16.

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

After weeks of intense negotiations between legislators, creditors and the Puerto Rico Oversight Board, the board officially filed an eighth amended Plan of Adjustment for the island’s massive debt restructuring that includes more generous treatment of pensions. It sets the stage for negotiations during the Confirmation Hearing that is scheduled to start Monday. As a

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

Puerto Rico’s economic activity index for August showed improvements from July and from August 2020. The index’s value was up 0.2% from July and up 3.3% from August 2020. August was the second consecutive month the index went up on a month-to-month basis. “The recovery in economic activity continues but at a weaker pace,” said

As the lights and tumult died down, New York City Mayor-elect Eric Adams stood among his supporters at his campaign headquarters in Brooklyn and looked out over the crowd. Just having defeated Republican Curtis Sliwa, by a 73% to 23% margin Tuesday night, Adams felt it was time to bring home his message of unity

President Joe Biden said he’ll announce soon his choice of nominees for chair and other vacancies on the Federal Reserve, amid a scandal over stock trades by central bank officials. “We’ll be making those announcements fairly quickly,” he said Tuesday at a press conference at a climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Biden has started meeting