Illinois

Veteran Chicago-based bond attorney Thomas Smith has joined the local office of Greenberg Traurig LLP.

The Art Institute of Chicago received two good pieces of news when Moody’s Investors Service revised its outlook to positive and it announced its largest cash gift ever.

The Chicago Public Schools' last-minute pricing delay puts more of an onus on the district to demonstrate its ability to access the bond market.

Chicago Public Schools yanked a $875 million general obligation bond sale from Wednesday’s negotiated offerings, moving it to the day-to-day calendar; district officials said the move will give investors more time to digest the deal, but some observers said it illustrates the district’s deep distress.

Illinois’ rising bill backlog if left unchecked could pressure the state’s already battered credit rating, Moody’s Investors Service warns in a new commentary.

Richard Ravitch, James Spiotto and Lois Scott are among the municipal leaders who've started an advocacy group to help local governments face what it describes as the "uncertain future" of public pension plans.

The only intermodal freight facility to ever take advantage of a special 11-year-old federal private activity bond program is back for a third round of financing.

A Republican plan to put Chicago Public Schools on a possible path toward bankruptcy was declared dead on arrival, but resonated with the municipal bond market ahead of a deal Wednesday.

The political bickering that’s driven the almost seven-month-old budget impasse in Illinois spilled into the public pension arena.

The headwinds for Chicago Public Schools intensified on Wednesday as one of its ratings sank deeper into junk territory and the state's minority Republican leaders mounted a takeover effort backed by Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Fitch Ratings said it has downgraded to B-plus from BB-plus approximately $6.1 billion of outstanding Chicago Board of Education unlimited tax general obligation (ULTGO) bonds

High yields and a statutory lien on state aid are what the junk-rated Chicago Public Schools offer investors willing to overlook its precarious cash ledger, bleak budget outlook, and downward credit spiral.

Standard & Poor's socked the already junk-rated Chicago Board of Education with a two-notch downgrade Friday as the fiscally embattled district prepares to come to market later this month.

Illinois paid higher yield penalties than it did before its budget fell into gridlock when it competitively priced a $480 million general obligation issue.

The Chicago City Council signed off on a $2.45 billion borrowing package that was temporarily trimmed by $800 million due to council members’ questions over capital projects and the administration’s swap termination plans.

Pricing results on Chicago’s $500 million general obligation refunding and restructuring bond pricing Monday showed narrower spread penalties for the first such deal from the city since a large property tax increase.

The Chicago City Council votes as soon as Wednesday on more than $2.6 billion of bonding after a day-long finance hearing in which aldermen forced Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration to downsize a GO bond request.

The lack of supply to meet demand – especially for yield – is seen as benefitting Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, and Illinois when all three fiscally distressed credits land in the bond market during the next two weeks.

Standard & Poor’s bumped Memorial Group Inc. out of junk territory thanks to support provided by the stronger rated BJC Healthcare system.

Illinois’ not-for-profit hospitals are facing new uncertainty over their local tax exemptions and charity care obligations after an appellate court voided a 2012 law governing their community benefit requirements.