SEC chief warns issuers against ‘problematic’ debt structures

Dave Sanchez, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Municipal Securities, had a lot to say Wednesday at the Government Finance Officers Association's annual Minimuni conference. In response to a question about the pending Financial Disclosure Transparency Act and its potential mandate for “machine readable" disclosure, he urged issuers to continue educating lawmakers to ensure that legislation aimed at issuers will be "workable" and doesn't "upend" the current disclosure landscape. He also warned issuers to be wary of “problematic” bond structures that came around to bite issuers during the global financial crisis a decade ago.

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Munis were weaker Wednesday but they outperformed a U.S. Treasury selloff that pushed the 10- and 30-year to yields not seen in more than a decade. Triple-A muni yields rose two to five basis points, depending on the scale, while USTs rose nine to 12 basis points, pushing the yields to multiyear highs. Munis are slowly divorcing Treasuries, said Cooper Howard, fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab.

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A ransomware attack on CommonSpirit Health doesn't pose a near-term threat to the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare system's A-minus rating, Fitch Ratings said. The cyberattack also didn't get in the way of the system's Tuesday pricing of $1.3 billion of new money and refunding paper.

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If you missed our statistics supplement it is live on our website and we feature a story on the decline in underwriting spreads.

Bondholders and insurers of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority revenue bonds are defending what they say is their lien on the authority's revenues. The parties filed a 73-page defense Monday in an adversary complaint in the PREPA bankruptcy on the lien issue. Their defense responds to an Oversight Board complaint.

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And if you missed any of our ESG Week coverage, make sure to check our ESG special section which has all the articles, the podcast and a taped version of the Leaders event.

Cybercrime, inflation and more severe storms are among the increased risk factors confronting colleges and universities in the Southeast.

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