Trends and Challenges in Charter School Bond Financings

Date: Thursday, February 16, 2023

Times:
In Person: 11:30 - 1:30 pm (lunch and networking prior to program)
Zoom Meeting Time: 12:30 - 1:30 pm ET

Locations:
Zoom webinar OR
New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street, NYC

Details:

A panel discussion on tax-exempt bond financing for charter schools, with a particular focus on distressed and workout situations. Panel participants are capital markets experts, including charter school bond purchasers, attorneys, and rating agency analysts. We will discuss typical terms of charter school bond financings, recent issuance volumes and characteristics, and bond security structures & covenants. We will also consider challenges faced by charter school investors, especially in the non-rated and high-yield end of the rating spectrum.

Moderator:
Carl McCarthy, Of Counsel, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Carl McCarthy has a diverse practice as part of Greenberg Traurig’s national public finance team. He splits his time between New York and Orlando. He represents bond purchasers, underwriters, bond trustees and credit enhancers on offerings of municipal securities and other public finance debt, typically non-rated. He has worked on more than 100 securities offerings, with recent sector focus that includes green energy and recycling projects, student housing, higher education, multifamily affordable housing and charter schools. He also regularly advises bondholders on restructuring strategies in non-bankruptcy settings through remediation, workouts, and liability management exercises.

Prior to joining Greenberg Traurig, Carl served as general counsel of ACA Financial Guaranty Corporation, a monoline bond insurer operating in runoff, gaining deep experience in creditor direction of indenture trustees when exercising remedies. He led legal work relating to the company's $7.3 billion portfolio of revenue bond credits, with a focus on workouts and remediation of distressed transactions, as well as discounted bond-buyback programs and other liability management exercises. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Panelists:

Seth Klempner, Director, Rosemawr

Prior to joining Rosemawr as a Director in February 2016, Mr. Klempner spent six years as a research analyst in the Municipal Bond Group of Lord Abbett & Co. During his tenure at Lord Abbett, Mr. Klempner was the primary analyst covering senior living, Puerto Rico, land districts, gaming, tribal, hotels, multi-family housing, single-family housing state and local governments, tax backed securities, and water and sewer systems and was back up analyst for hospitals, transportation and higher education. Mr. Klempner began his career in public finance as a credit analyst at Moody’s Investors Service where he covered local government issuers for two years. Prior to Moody’s, he worked as an Analyst at the New York City Office of Management and Budget’s Tax Policy and Revenue Forecasting Task Force.

Education: B.A., University of Michigan; M.G.A., University of Pennsylvania; and M.B.A, New York University.

Thomas Longino, Founder, Longino Public Finance LLC

Thomas Longino is the founder of Longino Public Finance, LLC, a law firm focused on representing investors and trustees in connection with high-yield or distressed financings, whether taxable or tax-exempt.  Thomas regularly represents mutual funds, corporate trustees and other investment vehicles that invest in the high-yield arena, primarily as purchaser’s counsel, trustee’s counsel or bondholders’ counsel in new financings, workouts and related matters and restructurings of existing financings.  Recent sector experience includes charter schools, higher education, project finance and senior living.  Thomas also has experience with SEC-imposed and trustee-imposed receiverships.  Prior to forming Longino Public Finance, Thomas practiced law in the area of municipal finance at a large southeastern law firm, mostly as bond counsel and underwriter’s counsel, where he gained valuable workout and municipal bankruptcy experience as a member of the team representing Jefferson County, Alabama. 

Thomas completed his undergraduate education at Vanderbilt University, earned his law degree at the University of Mississippi and obtained a Masters of Laws in Taxation from New York University.

Shivani Singh, Director and Lead Analyst, NY, S&P Global Ratings

Shivani is a Director and Analytical Team Lead within the U.S. Public Finance team at S&P Global Ratings. She has expertise reviewing credit ratings for debt instruments (revenue and/or tax-secured) issued by charter schools, community colleges, and independent schools. Her portfolio also includes public and private colleges/ universities, 501(c)(3) institutions, and off-balance sheet housing projects in the United States. Previously, Shivani worked in the Not-For-Profit Healthcare Group at S&P Global Ratings with analytical responsibility for rating a portfolio of not-for-profit acute-care and long-term care credits in the United States. She joined S&P in March 2010.

Previously, Shivani was a Senior Budget Analyst at the NYC Office of Management and Budget. Her core job duties included preparing, analyzing and monitoring the annual and ten-year capital budgets of the city’s two key health agencies, the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation (the largest municipal healthcare system in the United States) and NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Before graduate school, she worked for two years as a Senior Credit Analyst at General Electric’s Consumer Finance division in India.

Shivani holds a Master of Public Administration (core concentration in finance) with top honors from Cornell University, and a Bachelors of Arts (honors) in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Delhi. She is a CFA®, CAIA ® and FRM ® charter holder.

Press: Press is allowed but must confer with speakers before using a quote.

Cost:

MAGNY and other NFMA Members
$55 Zoom
$75 In-Person

Non-Members
$80 Zoom
$100 In-Person

Participants attending in person will receive additional information prior to the meeting about current COVID protocols in place at the NYC Bar Association. As of now, vaccination will not be required and masks are welcome but not required. The room will be significantly below capacity to allow for distancing if preferred. No in-person cancellations after February 9 although another guest can attend in your place.

Registration: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Questions? Contact [email protected].