Municipal bond underwriters did the majority of business during the first two months of the year, before COVID-19 swept the country with sickness and severe spreading. The top underwriters accounted for $87.84 billion of bonds throughout 2,119 transactions, compared to $75.84 billion in 1,809 deals in first quarter of 2019.
Supply has "declined materially, allowing dealers to take a breather, with their inventories dropping significantly, while retail investors do not seem to be spooked by rate volatility, lower taxes and possible threats to the tax-exempts, and continued putting money into tax-exempts at a brisk pace," said Mikhail Foux, managing director and head municipal research and strategy at Barclays.
Pewaukee, Wisconsin, is the target of lawsuits from a private industry group over a transportation utility fee that was struck down earlier this year.
George Joseph McLiney, Jr. founded municipal bond underwriting firm McLiney and Company. He was devoted to his family and small issuer clients.
The tools come with risks, like legal challenges to "polluter pay" funds or potential corporate departures with cap-and-invest programs.
Longtime firm members Elaine Brennan and Charles Stavitsky hope to maintain continuity after their promotions.
The prepaid electricity bond deal issued by the California Community Choice Financing Authority for the Clean Power Allliance was record-setting in size.
