Munis

It's the latest proposal for a type of national infrastructure financing structure in lieu of the municipal bond market.

A bill before the state legislature would create a public infrastructure bank, where municipalities could go to finance projects from affordable housing to bridges.

The muni market finances the "fabric of our nation, and now, because of Citi's exit, the cost of financing for state and local governments is going to go up," a sell-side source said.

After months of speculation, the firm confirmed it would "wind down" its municipal underwriting and market-making activities after a "broad-based review" of its muni business, according to a company memo.

U.S. regulators' swift action in March to ring-fence the banking sector after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank might have had an unintended consequence of driving cash out of bond funds by enhancing the appeal of deposits, two New York Fed researchers say.

The whistleblower who brought the case, Minnesota-based municipal advisor Johan Rosenberg, will receive $14.4 million under the deal.

With class certification now in hand, the cities that brought the lawsuit have two weeks to outline how other municipalities will be provided notice of the chance to join.

The lawsuits alleged that banks including Bank of America and Goldman Sachs — acting as remarketing agents on the securities — failed to get the best rates for issuers.

The private equity firms accused the bank of concealing key changes to a credit agreement, in part because it wanted to win future muni bond business from Brightline Holdings.

Moody's said higher funding costs, a potential decline in bank capital and growing risk in the commercial real-estate industry prompted many of the downgrades.