Michigan

KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. has hired Mark Fisher to serve as a managing director in its public finance group, overseeing business in Ohio and Michigan.

Market participants believe Detroit's settlement with three bond insurers Wednesday is a breakthrough in the city's bankruptcy proceedings, even though it is not final and leaves many questions unanswered.

A bond insurer Wednesday asked the bankruptcy judge overseeing Detroit's case to force the city to consider four new bids for the city's art collection that could bring in as much as $2 billion.

Detroit announced its first significant bankruptcy settlement, agreeing to pay insurers of its unlimited-tax general obligation bonds 74 cents on the dollar and to treat the debt as secured in the future.

The state of Michigan last week sold $83 million of bonds last week in a deal that state officials said was four times oversubscribed and proved that the state's credit remains appealing to investors.

Detroit's creditors filed a flood of objections to the city's bankruptcy plan Monday, arguing it lacked critical information needed to answer even basic questions such as recovery rates.

Another Detroit suburb faces state takeover after a review team declared it to be in a state of financial emergency.

Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, who is overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy, will rule next week on a critical interest-rate swaps settlement after an all-day hearing Thursday that centered on the legality of the lien backing the derivatives.

Detroit's revised debt plan, which proposes even lower recoveries for bondholders, is a harsh reminder that even bonds with strong security pledges will suffer when economic conditions are too bad, Moody's Investors Service said in a comment titled "Detroit Turns the Screw."

Moody's Investors Service Wednesday affirmed its Aa2 rating on Michigan, saying the state is anchored by strong fiscal management and a reviving auto industry.

Detroit can move forward with a controversial $120 million loan with Barclays, the federal judge overseeing the city's bankruptcy case said Wednesday.

Bondholder recoveries would tumble another 5% under an updated plan of debt adjustment that Detroit filed with the bankruptcy court Monday evening.

Bond insurer Syncora Guarantee requested dozens of documents from the Detroit Institute of Arts, Christie's, and the state tied to the insurer's challenge to the city's bankruptcy and its attempt to protect the city's art collection from sale.

The Detroit bankruptcy judge on Wednesday will consider a request from bond insurers and others requesting that a hearing on a controversial swaps settlement scheduled for Thursday be pushed back by at least 10 days.

Detroit Friday released details of a controversial $120 million loan with Barclays as ordered by the bankruptcy judge overseeing the case.

Detroit amended its interest-rate swaps deal to drop banks' requirement that it sign off on its plan of debt adjustment, and also said it would file an updated bankruptcy plan on Monday.

Detroit's proposed $120 million loan with Barclays, which would finance service improvements, advanced Tuesday after a key Michigan board approved the deal.

The city of Flint and Genesee County in Michigan and their new Karegnondi Water Authority are bringing $220 million of bonds to market to finance their breakaway from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and build their own 63-mile pipeline to Lake Huron.

The judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy case ordered the city to disclose more details of a proposed $120 million loan with Barclays, including financing terms and the use of proceeds.

The Detroit Water and Sewer Department plans to come to market in June with $150 million of sewer bonds — and possibly a restructuring of its entire $4 billion portfolio — in the midst of the city's tumultuous bankruptcy and talks to privatize the asset.