Bonds

The Louisiana State Bond Commission this week approved the sale of $50 million in revenue bonds to help the Calcasieu Parish School Board resume work on those schools damaged last year by two hurricanes. Construction has been halted because of delays in reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “A year after two devastating hurricanes,

The Securities and Exchange Commission has settled with Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego County, California, as well as its former chief financial officer Karen Michel for misleading investors in connection with an issuance of $28 million of municipal bonds. The Commission charged Michel with violating Section 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of

Puerto Rico’s local government revoked a law the Oversight Board has been considering using to issue restructured bonds without the local government’s support. Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi signed Project 959 on Thursday, revoking the 1942 law, which had been used over the years to justify bond refundings. The board has argued it could legally

Municipals were little changed on light trading in the secondary again Wednesday as Illinois and Texas priced bonds in the primary and the Investment Company Institute reported another round of billion-dollar-plus inflows. The Investment Company Institute reported $1.325 billion of inflows for the week ending Sept. 8, following $1.804 billion of inflows the prior week,

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tapped San Antonio, Texas, school superintendent Pedro Martinez — a former Chicago Public Schools fiscal chief — to lead the district as fiscal and governance change looms. Lightfoot introduced Martinez as the new chief executive officer at a news conference Wednesday. Martinez is the first Latino to hold the CEO position

The government of Guam has settled on a $937 million budget for fiscal 2022, which starts Oct. 1. Gov. Lourdes “Lou” Guerrero on Saturday said she would let the budget go into effect without her signature. The legislature transmitted the budget to her on Aug. 31. The budget includes $623.6 million of total General Fund

The municipal primary was the focus Tuesday with large deals repricing to lower yields while the secondary market took a backseat with benchmark curves little changed even as U.S. Treasuries rallied and stocks sold off. Triple-A benchmarks saw a basis point bump in spots while U.S. Treasury yields fell five basis points on the 10-

On the heels of Minnesota’s recent $876 million deal, the state’s public university system heads into the market this week with a deal that offers investors a range of paper to pick from, including a sustainability-certified bond. The Regents of the University of Minnesota will bring a $127 million refunding on Tuesday and follow with

Municipals were little changed ahead of a $10 billion-plus new-issue week as California offered $2 billion of general obligation bonds to retail investors and the market considered the municipal bond provisions offered from Washington. Triple-A benchmarks reported steady levels while U.S. Treasuries improved and equities also improved. “The municipal market is relatively unchanged and not

California will come to market Tuesday with $2.1 billion in general obligation bonds, coincidentally on Election Day for the ballot question asking if the state’s voters want to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom from office. CreditSights, an independent investor research firm, affirmed a market perform rating on California’s GOs ahead of the deal, but raised concerns

First of two parts Visceral memories of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City — and more positively, the response from the capital markets — linger 20 years later. The anniversary comes as the city is trying to emerge from a newer crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, generational

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the release of $2.75 billion to support the state’s Homekey project Thursday. The program provides money to local governments to build permanent supportive housing for unhoused people. It’s estimated the additional funding could build up to 14,000 housing units for people exiting homelessness, said Newsom, who called it the largest

Almost two dozen amicus briefs have been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in the past 10 days in favor of granting Supplemental Security Income benefits to Puerto Ricans and other territorial residents, with oral arguments set for Nov. 8. Providing the payments would mean an additional $1 billion in federal transfers to Puerto Ricans

VanEck launched a municipal exchange-traded fund with a sustainability designation, the first ETF of its kind in the municipal space. The VanEck HIP Sustainable Municipal fund, SMI ticker, introduced Friday, is an actively managed fund focusing on investment-grade state and local government debt that funds projects promoting sustainable development, including affordable housing, green spaces and

Municipal bonds were little changed, ignoring another reversal in U.S. Treasuries on Friday ahead of a larger-than-average $10 billion-plus calendar led by California, Texas and New York issuers. Triple-A benchmarks were unmoved again Friday while the 10-year UST rose four basis points and the 30-year four. As such, ratios fell slightly with the 10-year muni-to-Treasury

The presidents of the Federal Reserve banks of Boston and Dallas said Thursday they would sell their individual stock holdings by Sept. 30 and invest the proceeds in diversified index funds or hold them in cash. Eric Rosengren, head of the Boston Fed, and Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Fed, released near-identical statements Thursday

Municipals were little changed, underperforming a U.S. Treasury rate reversal from Wednesday as all eyes were on the primary with Minnesota selling $897 million of general obligation bonds to strong reception. Triple-A benchmarks were unmoved while the 10-year UST fell four basis points and the 30-year five. As such, ratios rose slightly with the 10-year

Title: Director Public Finance — Credit StrategyFirm: Wells FargoAge: 39 Kristen Fontana always had an affinity for the policy side of public finance. After dipping her toes into public finance with an internship at an investment bank during the financial crisis, she decided to go back to school for a graduate degree. There, Kristen said,

The Puerto Rico Planning Board is more optimistic for economic growth for the next 10 years than the Oversight Board is in its adopted fiscal plan. This Planning Board, the local government body that analyzes economic data and makes economic and demographic projections, expects an average 1.04% real Gross National Product growth from fiscal 2022

Melissa Norcia was appointed the chief administrative officer for the California State Teachers’ Retirement System on Tuesday. Norcia starts September 15 and replaces Lisa Blatnick, who became CalSTRS chief operating officer in August. CalSTRS was established by law in 1913 to provide retirement benefits to California’s public school educators from prekindergarten through community college. Today,