Liz Columbo advises issuers, underwriters, financial institutions and investors on tax-exempt and taxable financings for a variety of public infrastructure projects, with an emphasis on public power, transportation, and stadiums and arenas. She also advises clients with respect to regulatory developments and disclosure practices.
Today I focus my practice on four main areas, leveraging more than 20 years of experience to help clients manage their most complex transactions.
Much of my work involves serving as bond counsel, disclosure counsel or underwriters’ counsel on financings for public power clients across the country, including the Florida Municipal Power Agency, JEA, the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, Nebraska Public Power District and the Power Authority of the State of New York. My experience includes public offerings, private placements and 144A financings, system and project financings, tax-exempt and taxable financings, secured and unsecured debt, senior and subordinated debt, fixed rate and variable rate debt and derivatives.
I have been significantly involved in several tax-exempt and taxable stadium and sports team financings, including financings for Gillette Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Target Field, the Barclays Center and MetLife Stadium. Our team has won national recognition for its award-winning solutions to the challenges of financing these projects, which leverage taxpayer dollars to maximize private investment in these public facilities.
I have worked as bond counsel or disclosure counsel for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority for over 20 years, including on the MTA’s landmark $17.32 billion bond restructuring program. I take pride in my ability to work as a team with my colleagues in the Public Finance group on transportation projects that are funded in whole or part by federal grants and loans, including TIFIA loans, federal highway trust fund moneys and full funding grant agreements.
I spend a significant portion of my practice advising clients on regulatory developments and their compliance requirements. We serve as disclosure counsel (often in our role as bond counsel) for some of the largest issuers of municipal debt throughout the United States and regularly advise clients with respect to their primary and secondary market disclosure responsibilities.
Increasing regulatory, investigative and enforcement actions designed to improve disclosure and increase transparency in the municipal securities market will continue to impact all municipal market participants. I follow these actions closely to educate our clients about the implications of these actions and advise them of their changing disclosure and compliance responsibilities so they can avoid being targeted by regulators.
Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1994
Fordham University, B.A.
New York
New Jersey
