Detroit bankruptcy

The new regional authority taking over Detroit's Water and Sewerage Department should be a positive for holders of existing DWSD debt, Moody's Investors Service said Friday.

A deal to create a new bond-issuing authority to take over the troubled Detroit Water and Sewerage Department advanced this week with the remaining counties approving the plan.

Moody's Investors Service warned Wednesday it may downgrade Detroit's Ca-rated certificates of participation, saying it expects to resolve the outlook when and if the bankrupt city settles with the bond insurer that wraps the bulk of the certificates.

The city of Detroit rested its case in the trial to decide if its bankruptcy confirmation plan will be confirmed after Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council President Brenda Jones testified that they would work to support and implement its plan of confirmation.

Bond insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc.'s settlement with Detroit was the focus of much of the testimony Friday during the federal trial on the city's bankruptcy exit plan.

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr on Wednesday offered a glimpse into the city's high-stakes negotiations — and subsequent settlements — with bondholders during the course of its historic bankruptcy.

Detroit's attorneys called a $1.5 billion 2005 certificates of participation financing an "insider deal" that benefited banks and helped doom the struggling city during a federal hearing on the disputed debt issuance.

A post-bankrupt Detroit will not only be a "normal borrower" within a year, but will be stronger than many credits in the muni market, the city's investment banker testified in federal court Tuesday.

Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., the last major holdout creditor in Detroit's bankruptcy, is reportedly nearing a settlement with the city that includes a mix of cash and city assets.

US Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, who is overseeing Detroit's bankruptcy, ruled in favor of the city Monday when he dismissed a restraining order blocking the city's ability to shut off water to nonpaying customers.

Detroit Friday gained Michigan's final approval for a plan to issue $1.1 billion of bonds for a bankruptcy exit financing and to raise money to pay off several creditors.

Detroit officials regained control of most government functions, while remaining under state-controlled emergency management, after the city council late Thursday adopted a resolution that keeps Kevyn Orr on as manager with reduced powers until the bankruptcy is over.

A Michigan board Wednesday voted to approve two emergency loans to cash-strapped Detroit suburbs, which are under state control, that will be used for pension payments.

Detroit officials could announce the future of emergency manager Kevyn Orr's role in the bankrupt city after his term ends Sept. 27. Some city council members reportedly favor a limited role to oversee the final weeks of the bankruptcy.

Bond insurer Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., standing alone as the last major creditor holding out in the Detroit bankruptcy, challenged the city's recent settlement with fellow insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc.

The Detroit City Council Friday approved a new regional water authority to take over the bulk of the Detroit Water and Sewer Department and also gave the green light to the city's bankruptcy settlement with bond insurer Syncora Guarantee Inc.

Any sale of the art in the Detroit Institute of Arts would make the DIA "persona non grata in the museum world," a museum official and an art finance consultant testified at a trial on the city's bankruptcy exit plan.

The Michigan Strategic Fund approved the issuance of $450 million of 30-year bonds to finance a new hockey stadium near downtown Detroit, a transaction that will feature a mix of tax-exempt and taxable debt, a mandatory tender and interest-rate swaps.

The two counterparty banks on Detroit's interest-rate swaps no longer need to drop their claims against Syncora Guarantee Inc. after Syncora agreed to modify its settlement with the city.

Detroit and Syncora Guarantee Inc. said Monday they've reached a final settlement that is expected to accelerate the city's exit from the largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S.