Articles by Martin Z. Braun

Insurers Balk at Study Questioning Value of Municipal Bond Insurance

Around noon one Wednesday in July, two school districts from California’s Central Valley auctioned off their bonds to Wall Street underwriters. Both had the same credit rating. The deals were of similar size. They were being issued for the same …

Opioid Lawsuits Unlikely to Top Tobacco Settlements

An Oklahoma case, the first of more than 1,600 lawsuits filed by U.S. state and local governments against opioid makers to go to trial, could serve as a key benchmark for governments hoping to recoup costs associated with the public …

Billions at Stake from Opioid Suits but Damages Unlikely to Top $200B Tobacco Windfall

An Oklahoma case, the first of more than 1,600 lawsuits filed by U.S. state and local governments against opioid makers to go to trial, could serve as a key benchmark for governments hoping to recoup costs associated with the public …

Specter of Corporate Exodus Leaves Connecticut Budget in Crisis

Thirty years ago, so many companies flocked to Connecticut that Stamford, a waterfront enclave of about 100,000 residents, became the third-largest center of corporate headquarters in the U.S., behind only New York City and Chicago. Now businesses are lining up …

In America’s Richest State, the Capital Flirts with Bankruptcy

The hedge-fund enclave of Greenwich, on the Connecticut Gold Coast, is about 100 miles and a world away from the state capital. But the fiscal crisis in Hartford, the historic center of the American insurance industry, is fast becoming more …

Port Authority Wrestles with World Trade Center Financing

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s failure to agree to a loan guarantee for World Trade Center site developer Larry Silverstein shows agency leaders are wrestling over its direction as they seek to fix the dysfunction exposed …

Aon Accused by N.Y.-N.J. Port Authority of Unauthorized Commissions

Aon Plc was sued by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey which claims the insurance broker kept unauthorized commissions and failed to return premium overpayments, causing the agency to pay millions of dollars more than it should …