Yvette Shields

Piper Jaffray Cos.’ acquisition of Bank of Montreal’s Chicago-based municipal bond sales, trading and origination business, BMO Capital Markets GKST Inc., is expected to close Friday.

Change is afoot as the Chicago-based Women in Public Finance organization heads into its third decade with plans to broaden its reach and refresh its mission, highlighted by plans to rotate its annual conference around the nation.

Chicago is promoting O’Hare International Airport’s recent growth spurt, improved credit, and conservative debt portfolio as it preps a $2 billion issue that will mark the city’s largest deal ever.

St. Louis’ public finance community will join with the friends and family of Ivy D. Neyland-Pinkston in a celebration of life gathering Saturday to honor the longtime deputy comptroller for finance and development.

Bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. will lay out a restructuring plan next week for holders of $160 million of defaulted debt issued by the Chicago suburb of Lombard for its still struggling hotel and conference center.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded Illinois-based Anderson Hospital two notches citing multi-year operating improvements.

Chapman and Cutler LLP said it was mourning the loss of retired partner Ronald E. Rokosz, described as a “tour de force” who was instrumental in the development of credit enhancement, liquidity facilities and other bank products used in the public finance sector.

The Illinois budget stalemate has left Chicago on the hook to cover monthly payments to the trustee on its motor fuel tax bonds because state transfers are trapped without a fiscal 2016 budget.

Milwaukee takes bids Thursday on $180 million of revenue anticipation notes to meet the cash flow needs of the city’s public school district as it awaits tax and aid payments.

In Chicago’s second dose of good airport credit news, Standard & Poor's on Tuesday raised O’Hare International Airport’s ratings by one level as the city heads into the market next week with $2 billion of mostly refunding debt.

Chicago's steep borrowing costs should come down if the City Council adopts Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed 2016 budget and property tax hikes, the city's chief financial officer, Carole Brown, told council members.

Morgan Stanley will be lead investment banker for the Wisconsin Center District board as it crafts a borrowing plan for the new Milwaukee Bucks arena; the district has named an initial legal, advisory, and banking team.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel skirted around questions over whether he’s pinning too much hope on the state for key provisions that soften the blow of his record property tax hike to cover escalating public safety costs.

Chicago received a rare bit of good credit news Friday as Fitch Ratings elevated its outlook on O’Hare International Airport’s general credit to positive ahead of a $2 billion sale.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his finance team can expect tough questions from the muni buyside Friday at the city’s closed-door annual investor conference.

The budget proposal Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel released this week leaves many concerns, Standard & Poor’s said in a special bulletin.

The Chicago Teachers’ Union warned that the possibility of 5,000 Chicago Public Schools teacher layoffs would create “chaos” and could drive a teachers’ strike.

Ferguson, Missouri fired back at Moody’s Investors Service for its steep downgrade to junk, accusing the rating agency of being unwilling to give it more time to provide information that would offer a fuller picture.

Passage of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposed 2016 budget that socks property owners with a record tax increase to fund escalating public safety pension contributions would positively impact the city’s credit profile, Fitch Ratings said.

The new $500 million arena for the National Basketball Association’s Milwaukee Bucks took a step forward when the city approved its contribution toward a $250 million public funding package.