Illinois

Exelon Corp.’s plan to shutter two of its Illinois based reactors is “bad news” for the state and several local communities, says Moody’s Investors Service.

Cook County, Illinois heads into the market next week with positive news from two rating agencies and a downgrade from another.

Chicago’s restructuring of its public safety pension payments will initially drive up unfunded liabilities and cost the city more in the long run, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Chicago’s general obligation rating will remain on shaky ground until its resolves the looming insolvency of its laborers’ and municipal employees pension funds, S&P Global Ratings warned.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders are shifting away from efforts to reach a two-year budget deal to focus instead on a six-month stopgap spending plan.

While Chicago general obligation paper faces steep trading penalties and rating challenges, the city’s airport paper is faring much better.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel heralded public safety pension relief granted by state lawmakers who are winding down a regular session that is unlikely to provide similar clarity for the troubled Chicago public schools.

Chicago will get more time to phase in higher public safety pension contributions after state lawmakers overrode a veto by Gov. Bruce Rauner, but no end is in sight to the state’s budget stalemate.

Rating agencies offered modestly positive comments on Chicago's proposal to save its laborers' pension fund from insolvency.

Political discord among Illinois lawmakers and leaders deepened after House Democrats bypassed ongoing bipartisan budget discussions to push through a fiscal 2017 spending plan that Gov. Bruce Rauner said he would veto.

The partisan political in Illinois further deepened Wednesday as the Democratic House Speaker prepared to call a spending plan slammed by Republicans as phony and $7 billion out of whack.

A school district in Will County, Illinois faces a federal probe of its former superintendent's dealings, including the handling of bond funds.

Chicago’s second shot at fixing one of its woefully underfunded pension funds offers investors at least a small sign of progress, several market participants said.

Chicago would raise its contributions to its laborers’ pension fund by at least 30% annually under a new plan to stabilize the fund and steer it away from its path to insolvency.

Chicago heads into the market with $350 million of Midway Airport revenue paper, bolstered by an upgrade and viewed as well-insulated from the city’s financial troubles.

The health of Chicago's municipal and laborer's funds further eroded over the last year with another $3 billion of unfunded liabilities being dumped on to the city's pension tab, according to new 2015 actuarial reports.

The mayor of Harvey, Ill. has agreed to pay $10,000 and to never participate in a municipal bond offering again in order to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission that he helped the city mislead bond investors by diverting proceeds from projects for which they were intended.

The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved $600 million of new money general obligation borrowing along with new rules that require greater oversight of more complex financings such as those with interest-rate swaps.

The use of “social impact bonds” as an alternative financing tool is on the rise and news that Chicago’s first venture into the space will pay off for investors demonstrates the benefits, market participants said.

Municipal bond market participants may agree that bank loan disclosure falls short but there's little consensus about how to improve it amid heightened regulatory scrutiny.