NYC Bonds

To Our Investor Community:

Last month was back to business as usual with a $950 million General Obligation refunding bond sale.  In addition we added another tool to our investor relations toolbox.  For the first time the Bureau of Public Finance used social media to announce details of a New York City bond sale.  We aim to increase transparency regarding the financial health of NYC and therefore broaden our presence with current and potential investors.  

$950 million New York City General Obligation Bond Sale

The City priced approximately $950 million General Obligation, Fixed-Rate Tax-Exempt Refunding Bonds on May 22. The proceeds from the sale refunded higher interest rate bonds as well as variable rate bonds for which the liquidity facilities were scheduled to expire.  The refunding achieved budgetary savings of more than $105 million, or more than $99 million on a present-value basis.  Close to $100 million of budget savings will be realized in FY 2015, when the City faces a large projected budget gap. The City’s all-in-cost of funds was 2.175 percent.

The City received approximately $250 million of orders during the two day retail order period as well as $1.46 billion of priority orders during institutional pricing.

In addition, $275 million of expiring liquidity agreements were reallocated to existing providers.  Each liquidity provider has committed to pay a purchase price equal to the outstanding principal of and up to 35 days of interest on the related subseries, if needed.
The ratings for New York City General Obligation Bonds are Aa2 from Moody’s Investor Service, AA from Standard & Poor’s and AA from Fitch Ratings.

NYC Bond Sales on Social Media

The Bureau of Public Finance added social media to its investor relations tool box.  May marked the first month in which twitter was used to announce details of a NYC bond sale.  Twitter adds another valuable communication tool, allowing us to expand our outreach efforts. We aim for greater transparency and access to NYC and twitter provides another medium of two‐way communication with our investors.  If you wish to receive future updates via twitter please use the following link to follow the Comptroller’s official twitter handle.

Looking Ahead

During the month of June we anticipate sales by the New York City Transitional Finance Authority (Future Tax Secured Bonds) and New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority.  Details on each transaction will be announced closer to the sale dates.

Information on how to buy New York City bonds is available on the Comptroller’s website. You can subscribe at this site to receive sale announcements and other City publications and reports. The New York State Comptroller also maintains a website with a preliminary forward calendar for major State and City issuers.

As always, we appreciate your interest in New York City bonds.  Please contact us if you have any questions or suggestions as to how we can improve our investor communications.

Carol S. Kostik          
Deputy Comptroller for Public Finance