December 23, 2019 – Based on Thomson Reuters data released this morning, BofA Securities retained its traditional lead atop the New York league tables, underwriting nearly $8 billion in the Empire State for a 17.7% market share.

Morgan Stanley, not traditionally a Top 3 underwriter in New York, surged to #2 on the back of a massive $2 billion transaction for the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) last week. The bonds were backed by state personal income tax revenues. Morgan underwrote $6B for the year.

Rounding out the Top 5 were JP Morgan ($5.3B), Goldman sachs ($4.4B) and Citi ($3.8B). Siebert Williams missed the Top 5 by under a $1 billion, but has improved its ranking from previous years.

In terms of issues, New York State entities dominated – with DASNY ranked the #1 issuer, the MTA at #3, Empire State Development Corp at #7 and New York State Thruway Authority at #10.

New York City – which enjoyed its first upgrade in many years after Moody’s uplifted the G.O. rating to Aa1 earlier this year – issued over $10 billion across its three primary credits – General Obligation, Transitional Finance Authority (TFA) and New York Water.

A notable absence among the Top 10 underwriters is Wells Fargo, which has reportedly been banned by New York City from managing its negotiated issues as a book-running manager, due to governance and CRA concerns.

As reported by Bloomberg last week, Charles Peck – Wells’ newly-minted Head of Public Finance – was seconded to Wells Fargo’s public affairs unit to assist Bill Daley, former Secretary of Commerce to Bill Clinton and Chief of Staff for Barack Obama,

In November, Wells Fargo tapped Bill Daley to head public affairs, in a concerted effort to repair the bank’s fractured relationships with its regulators and the Federal Reserve.

Contact Kyle Skinner at KSkinner@buymuni.com.