Rankings

The top players maintained their positions atop the league tables, building their shares of a shrinking market.

Morgan Stanley rose to No. 2 and JPMorgan slipped out of the top 5 among municipal underwriters; PFM fell to second among financial advisors.

Topics that interested our listeners the most last year spanned the spectrum from the local to the national, ranging from New York City finances to federal tax reform legislation, and from advances in technology affecting the municipal bond market to current trends impacting the industry.

Among the topics that most interested our readers were the negotiations around tax reform and the financial crises in Puerto Rico.

Assured Guaranty and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP took advantage of a surge in issuance in the final two months of 2017 to solidify advantages over rival bond insurers and counsel.

The par value of muni underwriting fell for the top five firms as volume receded from the 2016 record.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Assured Guaranty retained their positions in third-quarter rankings, while Build America Mutual rebounded from a stint on negative credit watch to capture its typical market share.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch held its No. 1 ranking among municipal underwriters as the biggest firms battled for deals in a shrinking market for new issuance.

Regional bond issuance slipped by 31% in the first half and volume was down sharply in Florida.

Assured Guaranty and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP expanded their business even as muni volume shrank amid political uncertainty.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch used a big second quarter to overtake Citi at the top of the municipal league tables, while Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and Goldman Sachs moved up in the first half rankings.

Assured Guaranty and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP increased their leads in the municipal bond insurance and bond counsel rankings in the first quarter, as political uncertainty and higher interest rates cut into the volume of transactions.

Wells Fargo dropped to eighth place among municipal underwriters, hurt by last year's phony accounts scandal. Citi maintained its lead in the ranking.