Michigan

Syncora is challenging Detroit's latest attempt to settle with its interest-rate swap counterparties, a day after FGIC filed a challenge to the city's lawsuit attempting to invalidate its pension certificates.

Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Company has asked the bankruptcy court overseeing Detroit's Chapter 9 to allow it to intervene in a city lawsuit that attempts to repudiate $1.4 billion of pension certificate debt.

Michigan lawmakers passed a $330 million mid-year 2014 budget supplemental bill last week that features more road money for local governments hit hard by the harsh winter.

Six months after first announcing a deal, bankrupt Detroit is still struggling to secure a key debtor-in-possession loan with Barclays.

Detroit's high-profile battle with its bondholders will likely have limited impact in the national market, as general obligation pledges vary widely across the country, Moody's Investors Service said in a new report.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday that the financial emergency in Benton Harbor is officially resolved and the city is leaving emergency management.

The city of Holland, in western Michigan, is gearing up for a $160 million bond sale to raise funds for a new natural gas power plant, its largest borrowing ever.

Work is set to begin this summer on a controversial $3.3 billion bridge spanning the Detroit River despite a lack of commitment of expected funds in President Barack Obama's budget.

Market observers say no Detroit scenarios are on the Northeast municipal finance horizon and some situations have improved, notably in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes pushed back by one month a trial date on the city's plan of debt adjustment after bond insurers and other creditors asked for more time to respond to the controversial plan.

Detroit in a court filing Thursday said it has reached agreement with Barclays Inc. for a $120 million debtor-in-possession financing.

Detroit Wednesday asked the bankruptcy court to set a March 20 date for a hearing on its latest settlement with its interest-rate swap counterparties, calling it key to the city's overall plan of debt adjustment.

Detroit has reached a new settlement with its interest-rate swap counterparties that could significantly boost its efforts to pursue a cramdown plan of adjustment if necessary.

Detroit is treating the bonds issued by the Downtown Development Authority as secured, though the DDA itself is expected to take a 80% haircut on an outstanding loan, Fitch Ratings noted in a comment.

Fitch Ratings downgraded more than $4 billion of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department debt to junk bond status Friday afternoon.

Detroit said creditors should have until June 9 to review and vote on the controversial debt plan it filed last week in bankruptcy court.

All of Detroit's major creditors, including bond insurers, Friday asked the federal judge overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy case to delay the fast-track schedule by at least a month or more.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, in his first state of the city address, said the foundation has been laid for Detroit's revitalization as it moves through its historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Standard & Poor's affirmed ratings and removed from CreditWatch Detroit's distributable state aid bonds issued in 2010 and 2012 through the Michigan Finance Authority.

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.