Illinois

Ex-IFS Securities head of fixed income Keith Wakefield committed criminal securities and wire fraud from 2017 to 2019, a federal jury in Illinois found.

The city of Aurora, Illinois, is issuing an upfront loan to developer Penn Entertainment using bonds backed by tax increment financing district revenue.

Illinois' Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability last week released its Special Pension Briefing on state-funded retirement systems in 2023.

Brandon Comer and his firm Comer Capital Group have to pay the sum as part of a final judgment reached in federal court in Illinois.

The consolidation upheld by the state Supreme Court promises efficiencies, but the hundreds of local funds involved still face structural challenges.

Providing care for thousands of migrants is contributing to the system's escalating uncompensated care costs.

Moody's Investors Service bumped Chicago's outlook to positive from stable, while affirming the city's Baa3 issuer and general obligation bond ratings.

The Illinois Supreme Court upheld pension reform legislation championed by Gov. JB Pritzker that was challenged in court by first responder pension funds.

The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $917 million.

The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported large inflows into municipal bond mutual funds, with investors adding $2.066 billion to funds, while exchange-traded funds saw $1.082 billion of outflows for the week ending Jan. 10.

The University of Chicago Harris School's Center for Municipal Finance is joining forces with Investortools to help advance municipal finance knowledge.

The tax-exempt market could also see pressure due to "heavy issuance, anemic flows, and rate volatility," according to Barclays PLC.

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday saw its issuer rating and debt ratings from Moody's Investors Service elevated a notch to Ba1 from Ba2.

The Fed, financial markets, the upcoming election and AI took center stage on at the Executives' Club of Chicago's Annual Economic Outlook panel.

Since November, 10-year munis have fallen 130 basis points, according to Refinitiv MMD. This has pushed ratios to near-record lows, said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

The state of Illinois is preparing to issue $600 million in new Build Illinois junior sales tax revenue bonds next week.

Half of the top 10 issuers were new entrants: the California Community Choice Finance Authority, Main Street Natural Gas, the state of Washington, the Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corp. and Illinois.

The muni market saw $379.992 billion of debt issued in 2023, only $11.076 billion less than the lackluster $391.068 billion seen in 2022.

Illinois saw an uptick in its financial fortunes during the past fiscal year, one of the few times the state's net position has improved in recent years.

A hotel tax that supports the authority's bonds has recovered strongly from the pandemic, the rating agency said.