Illinois

Midwestern financial advisory firm Columbia Capital Management LLC hired veteran public finance banker and advisor Courtney Shea to lead its push for Chicago area and state of Illinois business.

Increased debt service from Illinois’ recent round of borrowing is coming closer to exhausting revenues available in a special capital projects account, a report said.

Illinois' public universities are burdened by the weight of state inaction on pension reform, declining aid and tight in-state tuition regulations, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook on Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group's A2 rating to positive from stable due to good operating margins.

Standard & Poor's raised the Illinois Housing Development Authority's issuer credit rating and all debt supported by its general obligation pledge to AA-minus.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded its rating on Cook County Forest Preserve to A1 from Aa2, driven by the district's mounting pension debt.

Former Chicago Comptroller Amer Ahmad – who faces federal corruption charges stemming from a previous job with the Ohio Treasurer -- played no role in city bond underwriting assignments, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a $6.6 billion budget for fiscal 2014 that dips deeply into reserves — including a first time draw on a debt service account — to help erase nearly $1 billion in red ink.

Moody's assigned a negative outlook to the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago's A1 rating, citing fiscal pressures that include sexual misconduct settlements and rising cemetery maintenance liabilities.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago lost its top rating from Moody's over its growing unfunded pension burden, the latest in a series of downgrades to hit Chicago area governments.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has finalized Chicago's $288 million Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act loan to help fund an $817 million intermodal facility at O'Hare International Airport.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook to negative from positive on Edward Health Services Corp.'s A2 rating due to challenges posed by its new affiliation with Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare.

A fiscal watchdog group warned that Chicago Public Schools faces serious long-term problems -- led by pensions -- despite implementing more than 2,000 layoffs and 50 school closings last year.

Presence Health in Illinois will privately place up to $215 million of bonds in a deal that restructures outstanding debt of the two Chicago area systems that joined in 2011 to form the new system.

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn last week formed an independent task force to review and recommend management and oversight reforms for the Chicago region's public transit system that could affect the future of the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois.

The judge overseeing American Airlines' bankruptcy put confirmation of the carrier's restructuring plan on hold after the federal government moved to block its merger with US Airways Group.

A federal grand jury indicted former Ohio deputy treasurer Amer Ahmad, recently Chicago comptroller, on corruption charges of orchestrating a kickback scheme involving Ohio investment business.

The tax-exempt market ended weaker Thursday, following Treasuries, as two major deals priced in the primary market, including $5.5 billion of California notes and Chicago Parks District.

The Chicago Park District enters the market as soon as Thursday with $162 million of general obligation bonds after being stung with double-notch downgrades from two rating agencies over its deteriorating pension fund and city relationship.

The Justice Department and attorneys general from six states and the District of Columbia moved to block bankrupt American Airlines' proposed merger with US Airways under federal antitrust laws.