Illinois

Illinois finished out its last fiscal year with the worst overall net financial position of any state reviewed by the state auditor general after the release of the state's comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR.

Chicago pared down some of the expected interest rate penalty on its $880 million general obligation bond sale by drawing dozens of new investors in a market starved for issuance but still paid a steep price for its blemished credit.

Chicago received $3.6 billion of orders on its $884 million general obligation bond issue Wednesday that marked its first outing with GOs tarnished by two triple-notch downgrades and a drop into the Baa1 category.

The Illinois Finance Authority board signed on Centegra Health System's plans to borrow $200 million for a new hospital and an agreement to assist with obtaining ratings on a financing tied to the proposed Illiana toll road.

Illinois received seven bids on its $402 million issue of high-grade, taxable revenue bonds Tuesday with JPMorgan winning the bonds with a true interest bid of 4.2706%.

Illinois paid at least $80 million more on general obligation bonds sold between 2005 and 2010 due to its poor reputation with investors, according to a new academic report.

RBC Capital Markets has hired Stratford Shields -- a longtime Morgan Stanley banker and a former head of its public finance business -- to lead its Midwestern municipal banking efforts.

After wrapping a $402 million sales tax backed deal slated for Thursday, Illinois expects to return to the market over the spring with up to $1 billion of general obligation borrowing to fund its ongoing $31 billion capital program.

Moody's Investors Service's decision to drop Chicago out of the A rating category over its pension woes strikes at both its credit and reputation, market participants said Wednesday

Moody's Investors Service delivered a sharp blow to Chicago's general obligation and sales tax rating Tuesday, dropping them down to Baa1 over the city's mounting unfunded pension woes that threaten its "fiscal solvency."

The Illinois Supreme Court ordered that four pending lawsuits challenging the legality of the state's pension overhaul be consolidated and handled by the Sangamon County Circuit Court.

Fresh from raising $1 billion from a general obligation sale last month, Illinois returns to the market next week with a $402 million taxable revenue-backed issue as the state wrestles with an expiring income tax increase.

Chicago may share some of the same fiscal ills – from large pension burdens to budget deficits -- as bankrupt Detroit but they differ sharply when it comes to overall credit quality, Standard & Poor's stresses in a report released Thursday.

Chicago will hold on to its A-plus rating from Standard & Poor's rating as it heads to market with a $400 million general obligation sale, its first since being hit with triple-notch downgrades last year by Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service over its pension crisis.

Midwestern volume dwindled by 18.1 % in 2013 to $59.1 billion from nearly $72.2 billion a year earlier as rising interest rates sapped refunding opportunities and lackluster new-money issuance did little to offset the drop.

Public pension plans should not be funded with instruments that bear risk or delay cash funding such as pension obligation bonds, a panel commissioned by the Society of Actuaries warned in a report released Monday

Budget season in Illinois kicked into gear this week with Democrats and Republicans trading barbs over the shape of the next budget and the how the state should deal with an projected $3 billion deficit due to the looming rollback of an income tax hike.

Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois board chairman John Gates announced Wednesday he would step down from the post at the end of his term in June.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled the draft of a five-year plan to overhaul its Medicaid program in hopes of snaring $5.2 billion in additional federal funding.

Jones Day's Chicago-based not-for-profit and healthcare group have left en masse to join Chicago-based Chapman and Cutler LLP in a move that marks a return home for eight of the nine lawyers that made the leap.