Markets

Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White on Wednesday declined to take a position on a bill that would increase hedge fund reporting in the wake of fund purchases of Puerto Rico’s debt, saying it has both pros and cons..

The 32-year-old national fixed-income shop First Empire Securities has begun underwriting new-issue municipal bonds it could offer to its institutional clients and opened a Chicago office.

California’s treasurer has launched an open data website that he says will make it easier to analyze $1.5 trillion in debt issued in the state since 1984.

Unrated Scranton, Pa., is taking steps to regain the good graces of the capital markets, said its mayor and business administrator.

Citigroup municipal strategist George Friedlander is delivering a presentation about how evolving technology is impacting the public finance industry at the Nov. 19 meeting of the Philadelphia Area Municipal Analyst Society (PhAMAS).

EAX Trading pulled the plug last week on a two-year effort to launch a municipal bond electronic trading platform aimed at the secondary market.

Pennsylvania's prolonged budget impasse is a credit negative for school districts and community colleges that rely on state-aid distributions, said Moody's.

Municipal bond funds reported inflows for the sixth week in a row, according to Lipper data released on Thursday.

In the week ended Nov. 12, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index rose to 4.38% from 4.35% from the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

Rating changes are likely for hundreds of credits as Moody's Investors Service prepares a methodology revision for moral obligations, lease-revenue bonds and other appropriation-backed credits.