Hiring, firings, corruption, the new tax law and a volatile political climate shaped The Bond Buyer's list of most-read articles of 2018.
The Bond Buyer's Top 10 of 2018
December 21, 2018 10:04 AM
Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
1: Chicago finds limits to its leverage on banks' gun policies
April 17: Facing the potential loss of some banking relationships it needs to access the capital markets, Chicago put the brakes on an ordinance that would ban doing bond deals with financial institutions that don’t agree to impose certain gun control policies on their retail business clients.
2. Trump administration raises `serious concern' about federal loan reliance
Jan. 2: The Trump Administration may be backing away from an Obama-era White House agreement to finance half of the Gateway Tunnel project connecting New York and New Jersey by rail, calling into question the future of an endeavor that local leaders say is a crucial infrastructure priority.
3. P3 attorney Devlin joins Nixon Peabody
May 17: Roderick Devlin has joined law firm Nixon Peabody LLP as a partner in its infrastructure practice. Devlin, who works in New York, focuses his practice on public-private partnerships and project finance transactions.
4. Banks, broker-dealers accused of widespread fraud and collusion over VRDO rate resets
April 10: Eight Wall Street and regional banks and broker-dealers have been accused in a whistleblower suit of “widespread fraud and collusion” in connection with remarketing the variable-rate demand obligations of state and local issuers in Illinois.
Scott Weaver
5. Two firms, 18 people charged by SEC in muni flipping scheme
Aug. 14: Two defunct firms and 18 individuals have been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with engaging in a so-called flipping and kickback scheme to improperly divert newly issued municipal bonds to certain broker-dealers for a fee at the expense of retail investors.
6. Wells Fargo muni shop management in flux after ouster of Stratford Shields
Dec. 6: Wells Fargo fired its public finance chief Stratford Shields , a move that shifts leadership of a banking group shaped by Shields over the last year.
Albin Lohr-Jones/Bloomberg
7. Eight states may follow New York's workaround for SALT deduction limits
April 6: While New York has become the first state to enact a workaround of the $10,000 cap on the federal deduction for state and local taxes, eight other states are moving in that same direction, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
KIM WHITE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
8. Wells Fargo cites market repositioning for muni banker departures
May 23: Wells Fargo has confirmed that 15 people have left the bank's public finance division as it adjusts to market conditions and the hiring of a new public finance director.
9. Three firms have banner years even as volume declines
Jan. 5: Bank of America Merrill Lynch stayed ahead in the ranking of municipal bond underwriters for 2017 , even as the par value of deals fell for BAML and for nine of the top 12 firms.
Bloomberg News
10. U.S. Bank slashes size of long-term muni desk in New York
Feb. 7: U.S. Bank gutted its long-term municipal bond underwriting, sales and trading desks in New York City in a shakeup that also claimed banking and other positions nationwide, market sources told The Bond Buyer.
