Illinois

Pension obligation bonds are land mines municipal issuers should avoid, according to Janney Capital Markets.

Chicago’s CFO, Lois Scott, is promoting the city's new plan to take on $200 million of new debt to pay for canceling interest-rate swaps and to phase out debt restructurings.

Chicago will phase out the use of scoop-and-toss debt restructuring, convert a $900 million floating rate portfolio to fixed and exit the attached interest rate swaps under measures announced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wednesday.

Chicago could sink into speculative grade territory if it fails to quickly make headway in tackling its pension and budgetary mess, Nuveen Asset Management LLC warns in a new research report.

Chapter 9 guru James Spiotto says states are increasingly realizing the importance of early intervention in their distressed cities to avoid the crisis of a municipal bankruptcy where everyone loses.

Northwestern University is offering more than $600 million of its gilt-edged paper to taxable and tax-exempt buyers to refund some debt and raise financing for projects in an ongoing $2.6 billion capital program.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tapped Forrest Claypool, his longtime friend and hand-picked head of the Chicago Transit Authority, as his next chief of staff.

Chicago-based general government banker Eric Rockhold started Monday with Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a co-head of the central region, industry sources said.

The Art Institute of Chicago said it’s received the largest gift ever in a 42 piece collection valued in published reports at $400 million.

Cook County, Ill. budget director Andrea Gibson is leaving the top county job after four years on the job, board President Toni Preckwinkle announced April 21.

Drawn by attractive interest rates, investors Tuesday bought up $300 million of bonds sold by the Chicago Board of Education, which has been dogged questions about its solvency.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's promotion of Chapter 9 as an option for some local governments may hinder efforts to help resolve fiscal struggles in a way that protects bondholders, Fitch Ratings warned.

Peel away the layers of negative headlines and patient investors will find in the this week’s $300 million Chicago Board of Education issue low default risks and underlying credit strength, according to Municipal Market Analytics.

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook to negative from stable on Illinois Wesleyan University’s A-minus rating assigned to debt from a 2006 issue.

House Speaker Michael Madigan is taking aim at Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed $32 billion fiscal 2016 budget with the formation of a special oversight panel that will “closely examine” Rauner’s spending cuts.

In another big headline event for the Chicago Public Schools ahead of its bond sale, the district's chief executive officer is temporarily stepping aside as federal authorities probe a $20.5 million no-bid contract awarded to her former employer.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns the Chicago’s convention center, has hired planning veteran and mayoral aide Lori Healey as chief executive officer.

The Chicago Public School system is limping back to the bond market next week following reports of a federal probe and bankruptcy talk from the governor.

Ill. Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed $2.2 billion pension reform plan needs a thorough review to determine its long-term impact and whether it runs afoul of federal rules ahead of any legislative vote, two Illinois lawmakers said.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has tapped an Illinois banker -- Rob Funderburg -- to lead the Illinois Finance Authority board.