Bonds

A suburban Chicago hotel and conference center working to get back on track from COVID-19-induced operating struggles made a partial payment on overdue interest owed to some holders of $142 million of restructured bonds. Breathing room still remains through this year for the Westin hotel and conference center complex in Lombard from a bondholder-provided loan
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Bondholders controlling more than two-thirds of the $180 million outstanding Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co. bonds filed suit against the Puerto Rico Oversight Board and the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority seeking full payment. Affiliates of GoldenTree Asset Management LP complained that PRIDCO’s bonds have not paid since the passage of the Puerto Rico
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Minnesota-based Fairview Health Services lost its A-level rating from Moody’s Investors Service and could fall further on the credit scale as it copes with worsening operating struggles that began before the COVID-19 pandemic. Moody’s lowered the rating Wednesday to Baa1 from A3 and assigned a negative outlook. Further downgrades raises the risk that Fairview — which
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Figuring out the long-term effects of the pandemic on public finance issues attached to the urban cores of major US cities still requires a dartboard and a crystal ball, especially while municipalities are currently flush with cash. The comments came during a Thursday panel discussion hosted by the Volcker Alliance to explore the still unfolding
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Texas lawmakers are eyeing an endowment to aid universities not receiving revenue generated by a prolific oil and natural gas producing region, which recently dodged a near-term federal crackdown on pollution.  The state Senate’s $130 billion budget bill for the fiscal 2024-25 biennium introduced Wednesday includes $2.5 billion to create an endowment for schools not
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Chicago’s Sales Tax Securitization Corp. will take retail orders Wednesday on a long-planned issue that prioritizes local buyers on the city’s first bonds to carry a social bond designation and gives special consideration for environmental, social, and governance investors. The STSC offers $305.3 million of tax-exempt paper in three series — including $98 million of
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The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s revenues took a hit in 2022, reflecting a tough year for business as underwriting fees fell sharply.  That’s according to the MSRB’s 2022 Annual Report, which showed the board’s total assets in 2022 drop to $68 million, down from $78.5 million in 2021 and $83.1 million in 2020. Mark Kim,
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A question mark looms large this year over whether hospitals and health systems will see sufficient recovery from 2022’s operating wounds to spare them from rating and outlook deterioration, rating agencies warn. The not-for-profit hospital sector suffered bruising margin wounds last year as it confronted inflationary costs along with ongoing supply-chain issues, labor shortages and
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New York City’s $102.7 billion fiscal 2024 budget is balanced and maintains a record level of reserves while holding spending in check even as economic uncertainty casts a shadow over the city’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Still analysts bemoaned the lack of additional monies for the rainy-day fund, especially with potential budgetary challenges from
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Municipals were firmer Thursday as inflows into muni mutual funds returned and triple-A benchmarks continued to fall, underperforming a U.S. Treasury rally after the consumer price index report showed inflation is cooling. Equities ended up. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 58%, the five-year at 62%, the 10-year at 68% and the 30-year at 91%,
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Muni leaders are airing disagreements and concerns about the Financial Data Transparency Act and other recent developments, highlighting some long-simmering tensions over how issuers disclose information to the market. The multi-pronged discussion on FDTA and other hot topics occurred Thursday at the Richard Ravitch Public Finance Initiative Launch Symposium sponsored by the Volcker Alliance and
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Facing a $22.5 billion shortfall in fiscal 2024, California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to reverse plans outlined in this year’s budget to cash-fund some capital projects. Using debt financing would allow for more flexibility in the 2023-24 budget, according to the preliminary budget proposal Newsom introduced Tuesday. “We had a $73 billion surplus in fiscal
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