Bonds

German automaker Volkswagen is set to receive $1.3 billion in state aid under an economic development deal signed by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday, backing the construction of a new electric-vehicle production plant 20 miles north of the capital, Columbia. The $2 billion planned factory will produce electric vehicles under the Scout nameplate,

Whether the not-for-profit hospital sector earns its exemptions from taxes and the related ability to issue tax-exempt debt takes center stage in a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. The foundation’s report values the benefits of tax-exempt status for hospitals at nearly $12 billion more than the amount of discounted and free care they provided in

Municipals were mixed Wednesday as U.S. Treasuries rallied following the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to hike rates a quarter point. Equities sold off. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 64%, the three-year at 65%, the five-year at 67%, the 10-year at 69% and the 30-year at 93%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders asked a magistrate to intervene on discovery issues but were rebuffed. Magistrate Judith Dein, who is handling discovery matters, denied the request because the Oversight Board said it was still considering bondholders’ discovery requests. She ordered the sides to continue to negotiate, with the bondholders filing a status report

Municipals were little changed Tuesday, while U.S. Treasuries extended their sell-off and equities rallied. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 60%, the three-year at 60%, the five-year at 63%, the 10-year at 66% and the 30-year at 91%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the two at 64%, three

After turning down several chances to legalize sports betting this year, Georgia lawmakers will face another vote on the matter before the end of the legislative session on March 29. The Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee voted 8-1 on Thursday to amend an existing bill designating a local soapbox derby race as the state’s

The Virgin Islands Superior Court ruled the territory’s Senate has the power to alter the Water and Power Authority’s board of directors, a decision one municipal bond analyst called a credit positive. The court upheld a Senate bill requiring board members to have greater expertise in energy, technology, economics, and finance; reducing the number of

Municipals were firmer in spots to end a chaotic week that saw triple-A benchmarks both follow U.S. Treasuries in a flight to quality and ignore UST movements — as munis did on Friday for the most part — as the banking sector crisis continued. USTs rallied and equities sold off Friday. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped

Regional leaders in the Northeast kept up high-profile efforts to show support for local entities facing challenges after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York. Despite federal measures to backstop all deposits, even those higher than the $250,000 deposit insurance limit, the failure of the California bank, which

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed an independent watchdog within the California Energy Commission to monitor the state’s petroleum market on a daily basis. The proposal represents a shift from his plan to place a cap on oil company profits, though it would give the commission more authority to investigate gasoline price spikes and the

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Federal Reserve shouldn’t be spooked into easing its campaign to contain inflation out of excessive concern about a credit crunch in the wake of the recent banking turmoil. “It would be very unfortunate if, out of solicitude for the banking system, the Fed were to slow down its

The banking sector crisis cast a wide net of influence over the municipal market this week, stirring pricing volatility, upending monetary policy predictions and raising questions among participants over how deep the troubles run and whether the potential contagion will roil economic prospects. Silvergate Bank’s March 8th announcement it was closing up shop led the

The takeover of the Houston Independent School District by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on the basis of academic performance does not affect its AA-plus underlying rating, S&P Global Ratings analysts said Friday. The TEA said Wednesday the largest public school district in Texas will be run by a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent

Munis largely ignored a U.S. Treasury sell-off as reports that some troubled banks were getting new funding helped calm investors’ concerns about a global banking crisis. Equities rallied on the news. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped up to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose 10 to 25 basis points 10 years

A Biden administration proposal aimed at providing relief for transit agencies struggling with anemic ridership would benefit large agencies but could pressure smaller ones, local transit officials told a Senate panel Wednesday. President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget, unveiled last week, would free up $6.7 billion in so-called 5307 urbanized area grant formula grants

Moody’s Investor’s Service raised the outlook on the A. B. Won Guam International Airport senior revenue bonds Baa2 rating to stable from negative Wednesday. Moody’s Lead Analyst William Oh said the improved outlook stemmed from Moody’s expectation that enplanement levels will continue to improve because South Korea and Japan have lifted COVID-19-related travel restrictions. The

Join us for a conversation with preeminent banking regulation attorney H. Rodgin Cohen of Sullivan & Cromwell and American Banker Editor-in-Chief Chana Schoenberger to discuss how financial institutions can navigate these challenges. Transcript: Josh Rucci: Welcome, everybody, to snowy Arizent Studios. We are honored to have you here for a very informative and quite timely

Illinois drew a fresh rating upgrade Tuesday for making further progress in tackling its chronic fiscal sore spots. Moody’s Investors Service raised Illinois’ general obligation and sales tax-backed Build Illinois bonds by one notch to A3 from Baa1 and assigned a stable outlook. The upgrade also lifts the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority’s rating one

Municipals were little changed Tuesday in secondary trading as the $1.25 billion deal from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority took focus in the primary. Days after the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, U.S. Treasuries reversed course and sold off on the heels of the most recent inflation report. Equities ended up. Triple-A benchmarks largely

The Federal Reserve’s top regulator will lead a probe of its supervision activity that preceded the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, the central bank announced Monday. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will conduct a review of the regulation and supervision activity applied to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Bank, which was shut

Wisconsin heads into the market Tuesday with a new money and refunding transportation issue against a backdrop of debate over how to spend a record $7 billion surplus, with the legislature’s Republican majority in the driver’s seat. The size of the borrowing is in flux and dependent on market technicals Tuesday when the deal is