U.S. muni issuance up 20 percent in 2015, BofA top underwriter

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. cities, states, schools and other issuers sold $377.6 billion of debt in the municipal market in 2015, up 20 percent from 2014 and the biggest annual issuance since 2010, Thomson Reuters data showed on Monday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC) was last year's top bookrunning underwriter with 468 deals totaling $49.3 billion, followed by Citi (NYSE: C) with 484 deals totaling $43.49 billion.

New York State's Dormitory Authority was 2015's biggest issuer with $9 billion of bonds in 34 deals. California came in second with $6.38 billion of debt in 11 deals, followed by the New York City Transitional Finance Authority with $5.47 billion of debt in 15 deals.

The largest long-term bond issue, totaling $2.178 billion, was sold by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in August.

The amount of insured bonds climbed 36 percent to $25.2 billion with Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp retaining its No. 1 ranking by backing $14.2 billion of bonds in 857 deals. The use of bond insurance by muni issuers began to rise in 2014 after falling dramatically from 2008 to 2013.

Private placements of muni bonds were down 4 percent from 2014 at $20.58 billion in 937 deals with half of the proceeds earmarked for healthcare and education projects.

(Reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by James Dalgleish and David Gregorio)

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