News
Monthly Public Finance Wrap-Up: July 2017
To Our Investor Community:
In July the New York City Transitional Finance Authority sold approximately $1 billion of tax-exempt refunding bonds and New York City sold approximately $960 million of tax-exempt and taxable General Obligation refunding bonds. Investors now have access to a free online course on investing in municipal securities, along with a free municipal market yield curve and several indices.
$1 Billion Transitional Finance Authority Bond Sale
The New York City Transitional Finance Authority (“TFA”) sold $1 billion of Building Aid Revenue Bonds (“BARBs”) that resulted in $184 million in budget savings from retiring higher-coupon bonds.
The bonds were sold via negotiated sale, led by book-running senior manager BofA Merrill Lynch, and ranged in maturity from 2018 to 2036. Individual investors placed $710 million of orders during the first day of the sale. In response to such a strong retail order period, TFA accelerated the transaction and began institutional pricing a day earlier than planned. The TFA BARBs are rated AA by Standard & Poor’s, AA by Fitch Ratings and Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service.
$960 Million New York City General Obligation Bond Sale
New York City (“the City”) issued $960 million of tax-exempt refunding bonds and $60 million of taxable refunding General Obligation (“GO”) bonds. The sale created $164 million in budget savings, most of which will be realized in fiscal years 2018-2021.
The bonds were sold via negotiated sale, led by book-running senior manager BofA Merrill Lynch, and ranged in maturity from 2018 to 2028. Individual investors accounted for $422 million of the sale. The GO bonds are rated AA by Standard & Poor’s, AA by Fitch Ratings and Aa2 by Moody’s Investors Service.
MSRB Offers Free Course, Yield Curve, and Indices
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) added a free course to its online offerings, targeting individual investors. “Exploring Municipal Bonds” offers investors an opportunity to, “understand the key concepts and basic characteristics of investing in municipal bonds, distinguish between the types of municipal bonds… and practice assessing the common types of risks involved with investing in municipal bonds.”
The MSRB also made available a free municipal market yield curve and several third-party indices.
Looking Ahead
The New York City Transitional Finance Authority plans to sell approximately $1.35 billion of tax-exempt and taxable new money bonds via competitive sale next week. Additional information is available via the links below.
As always, we appreciate your interest in New York City bonds.
Carol S. Kostik
Deputy Comptroller for Public Finance