Substantial shakeups in top municipal underwriters of 2023

The top municipal underwriters saw big shifts in rankings in 2023.

The changes reflect a year of layoffs at several Wall Street firms, including the October decision by UBS to exit the negotiated underwriting business and Citigroup, which also exited the muni underwriting business, in November.

The industry has weathered its second year of declining volume that increased competition for fewer deals and tightened underwriting spreads. Cheapening bond valuations have challenged balance sheets. The March banking crisis and political dynamics in Texas, one of the market’s largest issuers and previously one of Citi’s top clients, was another pressure point.

The top underwriters accounted for $362.847 billion in 7,268 issues in 2023, versus the $359.846 billion in 7,906 transactions in 2022.

BofA Securities remained in the top spot accounting for slightly more par and a negligible market share increase than in 2022. RBC climbed to second place after finishing at fifth in 2022 while Jefferies rose to third from eighth.

Shuffling among the top municipal underwriters characterized the year-over-year differences as Raymond James entered the top 10, knocking Barclays to 11th. Citi came in at sixth.