Bonds

A round of settlements involving the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s 529 plan share class initiative shows that a number of firms are agreeing to enhance supervisory systems and procedures and compensate harmed customers. Letters of acceptance, waiver and consent (AWC) for five cases involving the 529 initiative, were listed Tuesday in FINRA’s disciplinary actions online

Municipals continued on the unchanged path with sparse trading and no primary to speak of for guidance, keeping the asset class in idle mode to end 2021. The Investment Company Institute reported $91 million of inflows into municipal bond mutual funds in the week ending Dec. 15, down from $517 million in the previous week.

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board filed a lawsuit against the governor and government agencies to stop implementation and enforcement of pension laws it says will add $8.3 billion of retirement benefits for government employees. The board filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico late Monday against Gov. Pedro

Municipals were little changed in quiet trading with few prints to direct benchmark yields in any direction while the pendulum swung to risk-on with equities seeing large gains and U.S. Treasuries slumping back to losses. Triple-A benchmarks were left unchanged, and ratios fell. The five-year was at 48%, 69% in 10 and 78% in 30,

Missouri school districts must reject mask mandates, quarantine orders and other measures to fight the COVID-19 pandemic or lose access to the state’s credit enhancement program. State Treasurer Scott Fitzgerald said districts must sign a letter confirming their compliance with an attorney general’s order following a court ruling that threw out many local health orders.

Municipals were very lightly traded and little changed Monday, starting off the final two holiday-shortened weeks of 2021 with paltry supply and lightly staffed desks. The U.S. Treasury curve steepened with the long end weaker and equities sold off on continued COVID-19 concerns. The entire muni AAA curve has been stable for two weeks and

The Miami-Dade County Seaport Department won The Bond Buyer’s 20th annual Deal of the Year award for PortMiami’s $1.24 billion seaport revenue refunding bonds. PortMiami is the largest cruise port in the world and a large containerized cargo port. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, PortMiami cruise operations were suspended for nearly 16 months.

Municipals held steady Thursday, keeping to a theme that the market remains unlikely to take movements in U.S. Treasuries and equities into account for the asset class, as issuance fades and year-end approaches. Triple-A benchmarks were little changed while Treasuries improved and equities saw losses, led by tech stocks. Ratios were slightly higher with the

Well before the pandemic drove online adoption, the consumer shift toward a digital, personalized banking experience was on an upward trend. For financial institutions looking to capture the millennial and Gen Z demographic, it’s increasingly important to rethink card member acquisition approaches and prioritize automated, hyper-personalized programs. In this Arizent Leaders forum interview with American

Municipals were lightly traded and ignored moves to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries Wednesday while equities rallied after the Federal Open Market Committee doubled the speed of its taper and projected three rate hikes in 2022. “It would seem that today’s decision was a first move by the Fed to restore its credibility as an

Eight states including Illinois and New York with unemployment trust loans owed to the federal government called on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to reinstate an expired waiver on interest to buy more time to resolve the debts. The interest waiver expired Sept. 6 and states with remaining balances are now paying 2.27% interest on what’s

It was Groundhog Day for municipals as triple-A benchmark yields held steady on Tuesday while Treasuries were weaker and equities sold off. Triple-A yield curves were unchanged on the day and mostly have not budged but a basis point in spots since the end of November. Most generic benchmark curves have remained static all month

Judge Laura Taylor Swain will decide whether the Puerto Rico local government has the right to advocate pension positions to the bankruptcy court. The Oversight Board’s proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law for the debt deal was challenged by Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority. The board the claimed the FAFAA

Munis started off quiet this week ahead of some big deals on tap, with new issuance totaling nearly $8 billion. Triple-A yield curves were little changed on the day while U.S. Treasuries were stronger. Ratios were slightly higher with the five-year muni-to-UST ratio at 49% in five years, 72% in 10 and 82% in 30,

The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority sold $35 million of bond anticipation notes at a high yield of 7% for tax-exempt notes and 9% for taxable notes. WAPA closed the deal the week of Nov. 29. High-yield investment giant Nuveen bought the $34.5 million of tax-exempt BANs and $500,000 of taxable BANs via

Quincy, Massachusetts, is planning a $475 million pension obligation bond sale for Tuesday that is projected to fully fund its retirement system. City officials say they are getting out front of a state directive for its municipalities to reach full pension funding by 2037 and borrowing while interest rates are still low. Ramirez & Co.

Amid rising prices, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages, governments are increasingly eying so-called progressive development agreements, or PDAs, as a way to minimize uncertainties as they embark on complex infrastructure projects. The move can reduce risks and costs and deliver a project faster, said Moody’s Investors Service analyst John Medina. “Construction costs are very

Chicago wrapped up the pricing on $1.45 billion of refinancing bonds Thursday after structural tweaks and a $1 billion tender and exchange allowed the city to scale back on the deal’s size and still meet a $250 million savings target. A look at the 10-year in the tax-exempt pieces showed spreads narrowed sharply from the

Municipal bonds were steady for the eighth straight session Friday as U.S. Treasuries were slightly better and stocks rose after Consumer Price Index data came as expected, though the highest since 1982. “U.S. stocks rallied after the latest inflation report did not come in as hot as many were expecting. Wall Street did not see

Turmoil at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, including a former general manager’s guilty plea to felony bribery, should not affect its Kroll Bond Rating Agency ratings. LADWP holds Kroll’s AA-plus rating on its water system revenue bonds and AA on its power system revenue bonds. The outlook on both ratings is stable.