Tonya Chin

California's director of finance, Ana Matosantos, will leave and be replaced by Michael Cohen, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Friday.

The Washington State legislature reached a budget agreement on Thursday, meeting its deadline by three days and averting a government shutdown.

The PFM Group announced Thursday that it has acquired an advisory firm in Washington State as part of its continued expansion in the Northwest region.

For the municipal bond insurance industry, which has been struggling to recover since it was all but wiped out by the financial downturn, higher interest rates could lead to higher profitability.

Current tax-free yields are attractively priced compared to Treasuries, creating opportunity for municipal investors, says Alan Schankel of Janney Capital Markets.

If a budget is not passed soon, Washington State agencies face shutdowns and employees face temporary layoffs starting July 1.

Following the February 5th court ruling in favor of Assured Guaranty Ltd., Flagstar has agreed to pay the insurer $105 million to settle the lawsuit.

Broker-dealer Lebenthal & Company has hired Grover McKean to run the firm's new California office, headquartered in Los Angeles.

Seeing the possibility of expansion with the municipal bond insurance market, Kroll Bond Rating Agency has developed a new financial guaranty methodology.

In the years following the financial downturn, many states and local governments have been working to improve their finances, according to public sector workout specialist Bill Roberti.

Stern Brothers & Co. is continuing its expansion with the addition of three veteran municipal bond professionals in its Los Angeles office.

Citi strategists released a report saying they do not expect municipal bond yields to continue to climb, although the road to stabilization will not be smooth.

CastleOak Securities announced that it has added three public finance professionals to its Chicago and Cleveland offices to focus on strengthening the firm's municipal distribution platform.

Growth in the floating rate notes market has allowed issuers to gain cost-effective variable rate exposure and investors a way to manage interest rate risk, according to speakers at the first ever municipal conference focused on the securities.

Following the announcement of John Hallacy's departure from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, sources confirmed that Phil Fischer will step in to lead the group this month.

In a panel on the Municipal Market's Outlook at the Government Finance Officers Association’s national conference this week, Loop Capital Market's Chris Mier talked about where he things interest rates are headed.

The Government Finance Officers Association moved closer to issuing a new best practice paper on pension issues following recent changes in the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's financial reporting standards.

Timothy Firestine, the Government Finance Officers Association's incoming president will advocate against eliminating or capping municipal bond exemption.

Continuing an expansion of its municipal bond platform, FTN Financial Capital Markets has hired four muni professionals in its St. Louis and New York offices.

As new issuance of municipal bonds has been muted and interest rate risk remains low, the fees that bankers are paid to underwrite deals has been steadily declining.