Rhode Island selected Public Resources Advisory Group as its financial advisor, General Treasurer Seth Magaziner announced.
PRAG will enter into a two-year contract with the state, renewable at the state's option, Magaziner said late Monday. The firm will advise the Rhode Island Treasury, Department of Administration, Office of Management and Budget and work closely with the state's bond counsel, rating agencies, trustees and other professionals involved in the state's financings.
New York-headquartered PRAG firm has offices in California, Pennsylvania and Florida. Its clients include a majority of New England states as well as California and New York.
It's one of the nation's largest municipal financial adivosrs, consistently ranked as one of the top three such firms in the nation. Since 2005, PRAG has been ranked No. 1 by average dollar amount per issue, and the firm has primarily been the top advisor in the nation for general obligation long-term municipal financings in most years over the past decade.
"Our selection of PRAG ensures Rhode Island will be served by one of the top-ranked financial advisors in the nation," said Magaziner, whose office recruited a national pool of applicants.
Since its founding in 1985 as one of the nation's first independent financial advisory firms, PRAG has advised clients on more than $823 billion of transactions and assisted more than 60 state and state-level authorities and agencies on the issuance of securities.
"I'm confident they will be a strong partner," said Gov. Gina Raimondo.
PRAG replaces incumbent First Southwest, which had become entangled in the controversy surrounding the failure of a state-loan supported video game developer, 38 Studios.
The Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. provided a $75 million loan to the company, funded by the legislature and backed by the state's moral obligation, to entice the company to relocate to downtown Providence from Maynard, Mass.
The company shut down in 2012 and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. State officials sued 14 parties including First Southwest.
