Munis

Ed Sisk, a managing director and head of public finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has been MSRB chair since Oct. 1, 2019.

Research suggests limited effectiveness of the SEC's rules requiring disclosure of private debt.

The city, which Moody's downgraded last week, is appealing a Nassau County judge's ruling that has it on the hook for $131 million over a dispute with a developer.

Rating agencies are pushing municipal issuers to build online security risks like ransomware attacks into mitigation strategies that include more transparency.

PFM Asset Management will continue to operate as a separate entity. The deal does not affect PFM’s financial advisory business which will continue to operate independently.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York overtook California for the most issuance, while New York issuers made up half of the top 10.

While the top three advisor firms stayed put, the next seven firms moved around, including three new firms making their way into the top 10.

As issuance increased, the top municipal bond underwriters saw their total par underwritten rise by 14.4% from the first half of 2020.

Voters in Texas' most populous county approved the flood control bonds after the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, but matching funds have been slow to arrive.

Board says all the objections to disclosure statements are without legal merit or should be addressed at the plan of adjustment confirmation.

Locke Lord's Texas public finance team continues to expand with the addition of Arnold Cantu from Norton Rose Fulbright.

The team from Bank of New York Mellon will notably expand Ice Miller's arbitrage rebate compliance practice as a component of its public finance services.

While June was lower than 2020 in par, pandemic-related factors skewed last year's issuance totals, making the $42 billion issued this month high on a historical basis. Outside factors, such as federal aid and potential infrastructure plans, may affect issuance going forward.

Current rules require disclosures to customers who probably do not need them, industry lobbying groups argue.

State and local government groups want the focus on reinstating tax-exempt advance refunding bonds and expanding the current financing tools.

Brightline Holdings will wait until 2022 to try again to finance a passenger train to Las Vegas from Southern California with tax-exempt bonds.

The shift means that lease-revenue bonds supporting federal leases will no longer be notched off the federal government’s rating.

LSC plans to submit a proposal to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that would allow it to offer a Bachelor of Science in emergency management degree under a new state law.

Toll roads suffered tremendously from dips in traffic associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

After a year of adjustments made as a result of the pandemic, Baylor University earned a positive outlook on $124 million of new-money revenue bonds.