New York City is looking for financial, pricing, and swap advisory services to assist it and its issuers as they plan to sell $29 billion of new-money bonds from fiscal 2012 through 2015.
Selected firms would work on debt issuance for the city’s general obligation credit, the New York City Transitional Finance Authority, the New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority, and the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp.
Responses to the request for proposals are due May 18.
Financial advisers, pricing consultants, and swap advisers will serve for a period of two years and the issuer has three one-year renewal options. The city has extended its existing financial adviser contracts without a new RFP being issued, according to city Comptroller John Liu.
City officials plan to issue $29 billion of new-money bonds through the GO credit, the TFA, the MWFA, and the HYIC from fiscal 2012 through fiscal 2015, according to the RFP. Fiscal 2012 begins July 1.
"New York City's ambitious infrastructure rebuilding plan requires billions to be raised in the capital markets,” Liu said in a statement. “These RFPs will allow new as well as established firms to compete for the City's business, ensuring that our taxpayers get the best deal with lower borrowing costs.”
Anticipated GO issuance during the four-year period is $9.68 billion, while the TFA will sell $9.68 billion of personal-income tax bonds and $2.47 billion of building aid revenue bonds. The MWFA will issue $6.35 billion of water revenue bonds and the HYIC will sell $1 billion of debt.
In fiscal 2012, the city and its other credits will issue a combined $8.87 billion.
Firms can serve as a financial consultant and-or pricing adviser on one or more of the city’s credits.
Financial and pricing consultants will provide issuers with assistance on the structuring and timing of debt sales, investor outreach and market strategy, new ideas and products in the marketplace, and help with risk-management duties for issuers’ debt portfolios and derivative options, among other duties.
In addition, firms will “identify new strategies and initiatives to enhance debt performance and lower costs,” according to the RFP.
Submissions must include strategies to improve marketing and investor relations and detail the effectiveness of different media advertising for debt sales.
“Is there anything different or additional which the issuers should be doing to maximize demand for their bond sales?” the RFP asks interested firms.
Swap advisory firms will help monitor and evaluate issuers’ derivative portfolios, present new strategies to strengthen swap and related debt performance and lower costs, detail risks of entering into new derivative products, and update issuers on market changes and legislative and regulatory issues, among other assignments.
Interested firms must detail ways that issuers can mitigate counterparty risk, provide examples for addressing the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s 35 reporting requirements, and describe the depth and liquidity of the markets for SIFMA swap index and London Interbank Offered Rate-related instruments.
