Variable-rate bonds

With class certification now in hand, the cities that brought the lawsuit have two weeks to outline how other municipalities will be provided notice of the chance to join.

The Illinois Attorney General maintains it is unclear whether the state was even defrauded by the Wall Street banks that are accused of rate-rigging by a whistleblower.

The group of banks would pay $68 million to settle the lawsuit, which originally estimated damages at $340 million.

The plaintiff that brought the case on behalf of the state says the banks inflated interest rates through a private, invitation-only VRDO index that influenced SIFMA's weekly index.

The Illinois case is part of several state-level lawsuits brought by Minnesota-based municipal advisor Johan Rosenberg, accusing banks of conspiring to set the interest rates of state-issued VRDOs artificially high.

It's one of four state cases accusing Wall Street banks of a "robo-resetting" scheme that kept interest on variable-rate debt artificially high.

Variable-rate debt, tender option bonds and even prepaid gas bonds may stage a comeback in the current market, panelists at a GFOA conference said.

Recent court decisions have the potential to up the ante in lawsuits accusing major banks of manipulating the variable-rate market.

John Hallacy talks with Chip Barnett about how fiscal and monetary policy is affecting the municipal bond market. He discusses recent data releases, supply forecasts and the midterm elections and the future of ESG in public finance. (20 minutes)

The inclusion of swaps has the potential to increase claimed damages in the New York State lawsuit, though banks view swap materials as providing a potential defense.

The federal lawsuit brought by Philadelphia, San Diego and Baltimore on behalf of thousands of issuers is similar to a series of closely watched state whistleblower cases that claim banks manipulated interest rates on variable-rate bonds.

The office of Rob Bonta filed its objection to the dismissal with a California appellate court in San Francisco May 19.

As the MTA works toward a post-pandemic future, Kevin Willens, formerly co-head of public finance at Goldman Sachs, becomes its chief financial officer.

Avoiding even the appearance of representing conflicting interests is important for attorneys and municipal advisors alike.

A proposal from the Ohio Treasury would provide a new enhancement for state-purchased public university debt and offer a backstop for hospitals' VRDOs.

A superior court judge has granted the relator a small victory in a long fought case of alleged false claims, fraud and collusion.

Issuers should recognize their ability to prepay debt is an extremely important term, and they should consult with their MAs to achieve the most liberal prepayment term consistent with the type of financing they are doing.

The $187 million deal is the largest yet to be hosted on the Clarity platform, which is approaching the half billion mark of resets every week.

A judge said that the lawsuit filed on behalf of California accusing major banks of colluding to inflate VRDO interest rates did not allege the means of the conspiracy.

Tuesday's decision keeps the trial process rolling along, progress the accused banks were hoping to halt with their appeal.