Caitlin Devitt

Fitch Ratings downgraded to D from C the rating on $1.5 billion of pension obligation certificates of participation issued by Detroit in 2005 and 2006. The downgrade comes after Detroit missed a $39.7 million pay due on the COPs last Friday.

Michigan attorney general Bill Schuette issued a formal opinion arguing that the Detroit Institute of Art's prized art collection is off limits to creditors or Detroit officials struggling to cover the city's debt because it is held in a charitable trust.

Detroit's plan to treat all $11.4 billion of unsecured debt the same is aggressive and would set a precedent in the market, analysts said.

Detroit's decision to default on its unsecured debt could be an opportunity for the city's bond insurers to prove their importance in the market.

Detroit’s announcement Friday that it will default on some of its bonds, including a $39.7 million pension certificate payment due Friday, could have major repercussions for the municipal market, analysts and bond attorneys said.

A day after Standard & Poor's downgraded Detroit four notches, with the city's emergency manager set to meet with creditors, Moody's lowered its rating on all the city's outstanding bonds, pushing water and sewer debt to speculative grade.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Thursday signed into law a $49 billion all-funds 2014 budget, calling it a "solid budget" that makes investments in the state's long-term future.

Standard & Poor's cut its rating four notches on Detroit, down to CCC-minus, on the likelihood that bondholders will have their payments adjusted.

Wayne County, Mich. halted a $300 million largely bond-financed jail complex in downtown Detroit amid cost overruns.

Moody's Investors Service Monday upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3 its rating on Mercy Memorial Hospital Corp., reflecting three years of improved performance.

Gov. Rick Snyder last week announced that five cities, including Detroit, are in line to receive $100 million of federal funds to fight blight.

Washtenaw County is considering issuing $345 million to pay down its pension and retiree health care obligations.

For the second year in a row, Cook County, which includes Chicago, has released its annual audit on time after failing to do so for more than a decade.

The recent debt service defaults of two Michigan school districts highlights the struggles facing a near-record number of districts across the state.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr puts the odds of the city declaring bankruptcy at 50-50.

After Indiana dropped support for a controversial $1.8 billion fertilizer plant, Posey County in Indiana said it would act as conduit issuer for bonds to help the Pakistani-based company close the deal.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr will hold his first formal meeting with the city's creditors, including bondholders, June 14 at Detroit Metro Airport.

Moody's Investors Service late Wednesday downgraded Detroit Public Schools, now in its fifth year of state oversight, and the Pontiac City School District, located outside Detroit, which defaulted on a May debt-service payment.

The Michigan Senate Majority Leader delayed until Tuesday a vote on a measure that would protect the Detroit Institute of Arts' collection from the city's financial problems amid questions from his Republican colleagues.

A pair of Summit County senators have introduced legislation that aims to restrict the ability of national conduit issuers to float bonds on behalf of local economic development projects.