Over at our Restructuring GlobalView blog, our public finance colleagues Pedro Miranda and Pedro Hernandez make the case for bringing back tax-exempt advance refundings. The general shutdown of the economy in response to COVID-19 threatens businesses in most sectors of the economy, and the revenues that those businesses will lose cannot be taxed by state and local governments, threatening their budgets as well.  Lawmakers at all levels are searching for grand …

The IRS has extended to July 15, 2020 the deadline for certain time-sensitive actions for tax-exempt bonds, including filing Form 8038 and paying rebate, if the deadline originally fell on or after April 1, 2020 and before July 15, 2020.…

As we’ve said, The Thing touches everything. Indeed, to quote No Country For Old Men: “It’s the dismal tide.  It’s not the one thing.” State and local governments are no exception. Our public policy and public finance groups have a four-point action plan for state and local governments to start to pick up the pieces. We’re ready to help.…

NABL has asked the IRS to issue a Notice that would allow issuers to hold TEFRA public hearings for private activity bonds by phone and that would allow issuers to purchase and sit on their own debt through the end of the COVID-19 crisis without extinguishing the debt, even if the issuer doesn’t use its best efforts to remarket it. The text of the proposed Notice is available here. It remains to be seen…

With stories about stimulus and relief  from COVID-19 swirling, municipal bond industry groups are springing into action to help Congress and Treasury help us all. NABL sent a letter on Sunday to Congress and Treasury, asking for broad relief on a number of tax topics affected by COVID-19. The request is stated in broad strokes (broad strokes, as in “home run strokes” – be sure to read it), and more details on the…

Yes, The Thing touches everything. COVID-19 affects the muni bond world in some fairly obvious ways. The general mandate is “everybody do less.” Decreasing activity in general translates to decreased business revenues and decreased tax revenues, which means less money available to repay bonds. This has set the disclosure world ablaze, as securities lawyers ponder what to say to the market about the pandemic. That very practical question is far beyond the bounds of this…

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke recently advised that the Fed should maintain “constructive ambiguity” about the possibility of taking the Federal funds rate below 0% in an effort to simulate the U.S. economy during the next recession.  Given that current short-term interest rates in the United States are at near-historic lows, many believe that it is inevitable that U.S. monetary policy will replicate the negative interest rates employed in Japan and Europe…