Munis

The Treasury Department Inspector General for Tax Administration plans to audit the IRS' use of a much-feared enforcement tool under which it can impose penalties for the misconduct of municipal bond transaction participants such as underwriters, lawyers, municipal advisors or their firms.

The memo appears to respond to a March 29 written request by the National Association of Bond Lawyers to Christie Jacobs, director of the IRS Indian Tribal Governments/Tax Exempt Bonds Office to clarify the new law.

After recession-driven trouble, the authority's reserve is more than $300 million, said Donna Manuelli, its chief financial officer.

In addition to the local bond measures, voters will also decide seven governor's races and a Missouri fuel tax.

The first meeting for several new board members included discussions with other regulators and groups, the MSRB said Monday.

School districts again dominate November's local bond questions, but some but cities and counties are offering large debt proposals.

The district chopped off more than two percentage points, thanks to new state aid and pension help

Write-downs on two major U.S. public-private partnerships led to the company decision, Skanska’s president said.

Municipal bond supply takes a leap forward next week as Chicago’s Sales Tax Securitization Corp.’s $1.31 billion deal headlines the new issue calendar.

Municipals remained mixed as deals from Phoenix airport and Chicago issuers came to market.

Municipals were mostly stronger at mid-session as the last of the week’s big deals came to market.

The school district says fiscal gains allow it the option of going with a competitive sale on its short-term borrowing.

Five states also elect governors and voters in two states decide whether to restrict future tax increases.

The tax overhaul and rising rates started to bolster demand, partly offsetting the decline in issuance.

The 50 City Council members will ultimately have to sign off on new revenue needed to achieve actuarial funding.

A muni advisor facing an enforcement action could use a Supreme Court decision on gambling as a defense, a bond lawyer says.

Voters in one of the nation's fastest-growing counties will decide on a $750 million bond measure for roads as one of its school districts seeks $690 million.

The impact of the 2008 crisis led Congress and the MSRB to reshape many of the ways business is done in the municipal bond market. Part 1 of The Bond Buyer's series on the decade after the financial crisis.

What began as trouble in the housing and mortgage markets shook the whole world in 2008, including a municipal bond industry that had to learn to live without bond insurance, auction-rate debt and some big investment banks.

Weekly bond volume is forecast to fall to $5.9 billion from $10.3 billion in the prior week.