Michigan

Progress on a controversial bond-financed new hockey arena in downtown Detroit hit an obstacle this week when a state development board delayed a vote on the deal.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes Wednesday heard arguments from a bond insurer trying to halt Detroit's only pre-filing settlement, which would terminate interest-rate swaps hedging the city's pension certificates.

Detroit Public Schools sold $92 million of one-year notes Tuesday with a 4.37% interest rate, a steep penalty compared to most municipal short-term debt but less than the district paid in recent years.

Of the 140 creditors challenging Detroit’s eligibility for bankruptcy, not one was a bondholder or bond insurer, who learned “an object lesson from Stockton,” according to bond attorneys.

After five years of state control, the Pontiac has finally resolved its financial emergency, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder announced Monday.

Michigan lawmakers are taking a fresh look at a long-stalled plan to raise $1.2 billion in new money for the state's transportation infrastructure.

Creditors opposed to Detroit's bankruptcy petition face a midnight deadline today to file their objections to the plan, while firms fighting the city's one and only settlement gear up for a Wednesday hearing.

Detroit's Chapter 9 filing may be "a game changer" that resolves controversial issues that have not been dealt with in prior cases, according to paper on muni defaults from the Bond Dealers of America.

In a blow to state pension reforms, a Michigan appellate panel struck down provisions in a 2011 law requiring a minimum contribution from state employees to remain in the state's defined benefit plan.

Two small revenue deals from Michigan — a state transportation refunding and a school district financing — found buyers this week at acceptable rates, breaking a logjam on issuance from the state following Detroit's bankruptcy filing.

Fitch Ratings stripped Wayne County, Michigan's general obligation ratings of their investment grade over the county's rapidly deteriorating fiscal condition, in a five-notch superdowngrade.

The Michigan Finance Authority will sell $92 million of state aid revenue notes for the Detroit Public School District next week in the first market offering to carry the Detroit name since the city's bankruptcy filing.

Over the years, Detroit's financial deterioration and the city's downturn have been well documented, so its bankruptcy filing came as little surprise to most market participants. This point can be reinforced by Interactive Data's analysis below of six different bonds issued by Detroit and related entities, which are representative of the types of debt and structures Detroit has issued.

Rising interest rates and lagging economic growth sidelined borrowers in the Midwest where issuance dipped by 12% to $34 billion during the first half of 2013 compared to the same time last year.

Moody's said Monday that "novel" refinancing plans proposed by bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala., and Detroit are being threatened by rising interest rates and raise risks for investors.

Moody's Investors Service Thursday downgraded the Pontiac City School District to Caa1 from B3 -- a junk rating that reflects expected bondholder loss -- two days after Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder determined the district was in a financial emergency.

New York City can learn valuable lessons from Detroit's bankruptcy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, despite the contrasts between the two cities.

After the third Michigan issuer pulled a bond deal from a market grappling with Detroit's bankruptcy, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder said the governor is aware of investor concerns, but says the state remains filled with "smart, sound" bond investments.

The former chief of the Detroit Medical Center and the Wayne County sheriff will face off in November to be Detroit's mayor, a post that will hold little power until late 2014 at the earliest.

Oakland County, Mich., the triple-A rated county adjacent to Detroit, is plowing ahead with a $300 million taxable retiree health care bond issue set for September as other Michigan issuers shy away from a market still digesting Detroit's bankruptcy.