(Wall Street Journal) — As banks restart foreclosures they had suspended, bondholders are stepping up efforts to recoup losses on soured mortgage portfolios amid concern about sloppy mortgage servicing and underwriting practices. In a letter Monday, a group of institutional bond investors raised objections to the handling of 115 bond deals issued by affiliates of […]
(Atlanta Business Chronicle) — Georgia has again retained its three triple-A bond ratings from all three rating agencies, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s office reported Monday. Georgia is one of a few states to maintain the highest bond ratings possible from Moody’s, Fitch, and Standard & Poor’s. Perdue’s office said the rating agencies credited the state’s active management of the […]
(AP) — Illinois taxpayers will have to shell out an extra $551 million to cover the cost of borrowing because of the state’s deteriorating bond rating, according to a new report released Monday. The Civic Federation of Chicago, a nonpartisan research group, analyzed $9.6 billion in borrowing by Illinois over the last year and compared […]
(Citybiz) — The Prince George’s County Economic Development Corp. has earmarked $41.5 million of Federal Recovery Zone Facility Bonds (RZFB) for four projects, slated to create about 3,354 jobs and generate millions in local revenues. The Treasury department program is part of the economic stimulus package of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Read […]
(AP) — A bond rating firm has downgraded Chicago’s bond rating, citing the city’s weakened financial flexibility and reduced tax revenue. Fitch Ratings on Thursday reduced Chicago’s $6.8 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds from AA-plus to AA, which means millions of dollars will be added to the cost of borrowing by the city. The […]
(Chicago Breaking News) — Investors demonstrated an appetite for Illinois bonds Wednesday when the state went to market with a $900 million issue, but as expected, they extracted a higher yield because of the state’s dismal financial condition. More than $2 billion in orders came in for the taxable Build America bond issue, a show […]
(Businessweek) — Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley hired JPMorgan Chase (JPM) investment banker Gene Saffold to be the city’s chief financial officer and gave him a simple order: Protect the taxpayer. “During these tough times, when people are hurting, this is more important than ever,” Daley said in introducing Saffold in March 2009. “We must […]