The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged the City of Rochester, New York, its former finance director, former CFO and their municipal advisor with misleading investors in a $119 million bond offering.

Issuers need to be careful with bonds specifically marketed as green, said the head of Office of Municipal Securities.

Republicans, who argue pandemic aid is partly to blame for inflation, have said the large aid packages came with too few guardrails.

The SEC charged the town, former mayor Vern Breland, municipal adviser Twin Spires Financial and its owner Aaron Fletcher with misleading investors in connection with bond offerings in 2017 and 2018.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has come forward with a proposal that would expand the Names Rule to include any language associated with ESG related metrics.

George's departure will come around the same time that Chicago Fed chief Charles Evans steps down. Both will have turned 65.

The latest Congressional effort challenging the state and local tax deduction cap would stop the IRS from restricting state legislation that offsets the policy.

The Biden administration’s pick for Federal Reserve vice chair for supervision faced questions about climate change, digital assets and the central bank’s independence. But he did not meet the same resistance from Republicans as the White House’s first choice, Sarah Bloom Raskin, observers said.

Moody’s Investors Service raised the city's rating, noting noted a trend of strong finances, a diverse economy and a willingness to tackle pension issues.

Governance is the single most important ESG factor in public finance ratings, given the impact of governance structure, Fitch said.

Audit times for municipal bond issuers are on the rise, with the median reaching 164 days in 2020 compared with 147 in 2009.

Michael Rinaldi, head of local government ratings at Fitch, talks with Chip Barnett about the murky financial picture after the move by Gov. Ron DeSantis to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District after Disney Co. said it plans to fight to repeal the new “Don’t Say Gay” law. (12 minutes)

The legislative clock is ticking as midterm campaigning ramps up, but the lame duck session offers a fresh opportunity.

While the outlook revision reflects the view there is a one-in-three chance RCID's credit profile could be positively or negatively impacted, future events remain unclear, said S&P's Christian Richards.

The MSRB plans to issue a request for comment on its Rule G-14, in addition to publishing a summary of the comments on its request for information on ESG factors.

Several firms' ability to underwrite municipal bond issues in Texas is under review.

Municipal advisors are seeking more and better communication from regulators and enforcers, NAMA Executive Director Susan Gaffney says. Kyle Glazier hosts. (24 minutes)

Credits affected include $766 million of outstanding ad valorem tax bonds, rated AA-minus and $79 million of outstanding utilities revenue and refunding bonds, rated A.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s second quarter meeting will feature discussion of one of the board's more controversial recent publications.

The budget represents a turn-around as the county got a handle on pandemic-related expenses.