Midwest

Illinois sold $250 million of general obligation bonds Thursday in a competitive sale that saw some further narrowing of the state's interest rate spreads.

Moody's Investors Service hit Milwaukee with a one-notch downgrade to Aa3 following a review prompted by its change in local government general obligation methodology earlier this year.

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.

Chicago-based William Blair & Co. is bolstering its sales and trading group in Chicago and California and making a push into the Los Angeles market with a new office staffed with veterans from De La Rosa & Co. led by Christopher Tota.

After Illinois lawmakers approved overhauling two of Chicago's pension funds, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle said she was poised to unveil her own reform plan for her county's troubled fund.

Chicago's plan to overhaul two of its four pension funds removes the threat of looming insolvency but any notable reduction in the burdensome size of their liabilities is years off, Fitch Ratings said.

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.

Illinois' future credit standing hangs in the balance as state lawmakers weigh the 2015 budget and whether to accept Gov. Pat Quinn's recommendation to make permanent an expiring income tax hike, Standard & Poor's said in a special commentary.