Muni Think

Of various possible exclusions and exemptions in the SEC's Municipal Advisor Rule, a handful are particularly likely to prove useful in easing disruptions in the underwriter-issuer/borrower relationship.

The long-awaited Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act has the potential to play an important part in encouraging the use of P3s in the water and waste water sectors.

The inexorable drive to further underfund Pennsylvania's state-wide pension systems remains alive and well, under the guise of "pension reform."

Illinois and New Jersey are showing us how you should never, ever underestimate politicians' willingness to put off painful fiscal decisions.

Despite widely cited financial woes among both municipalities and monolines, guarantees have worked largely as anticipated to protect holders of insured securities.

Despite the warm spring weather, industry concerns over the SEC's Municipal Continuing Disclosure Cooperative Initiative have begun to snowball.

Like it or not, getting wealthy individuals to move to the Island in order to avoid U.S. taxes appears now to be a cornerstone of Puerto Rico's growth drive and is characteristic of the country's eternal search for a quick and painless way to grow.

Re-introducing the Build America Bonds program would once again drive much-needed infrastructure spending and broaden the buyer base to non-traditional taxable investors, while at the same time providing a complementary alternative to the currently challenged landscape of the traditional tax-exempt market.

A recent phenomenon is the emergence of bonds with shorter call protection as funding alternatives for municipalities. However, the shorter call protection also dampens the potential upside for investors, which in turn reduces the price they are willing to pay.

New York's budget leaves it at risk of becoming one of only five states that do not allow the use of design-build procurement to deliver public infrastructure projects.