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    1. Home
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    3. Elizabeth M. ColumboPeople
    1. Home
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    3. Elizabeth M. ColumboPeople

    Elizabeth M. Columbo

    Partner


    • New York City
    • Office212.940.3183
    • ecolumbo@nixonpeabody.com

    I'm a 2023 Nixon Peabody Pro Bono Champion.Read more about our Pro Bono program

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    Introduction

    Liz Columbo represents governments and public authorities, 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, multi-family housing facilities, and stadiums and arenas. She also advises clients with respect to regulatory developments and disclosure practices.

    Practice Areas

    Public FinanceProject FinanceInfrastructureDisclosure CounselEconomic Development BondsGeneral Obligation BondsMuseums & FoundationsPublic-Private Partnerships (P3)

    My focus

    Today I focus my practice on four main sectors, leveraging more than 20 years of experience to help clients manage their most complex transactions.

    Public Power

    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, South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper), JEA (Jacksonville, Florida), the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company, Long Island Power Authority, Nebraska Public Power District, and the Power Authority of the State of New York, among others. My work 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 experience drafting disclosure documents, financing agreements, resolutions and trust indentures, escrow agreements, forward purchase and bond purchase contracts, letters of credit, continuing disclosure documents, and interest rate exchange agreements.

    Transportation

    I have worked as bond counsel or disclosure counsel for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority for over 25 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 funded in whole or part by federal grants and loans, including Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans, federal highway trust fund moneys, and full funding grant agreements.

    Stadiums and Arenas

    I am experienced representing governmental as well as private entities in tax-exempt and taxable debt financings involving the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and their stadiums and arenas. This experience includes work on the stadium financings for the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Twins, and Nets and representation of the County of Erie, New York, in connection with the Buffalo Bills lease and related Ralph Wilson stadium renovations and the County of Loudoun, Virginia, in connection with the Loudoun United FC lease and soccer facilities financing.

    Multi-family Housing Facilities

    I represent multi-family housing facilities in various financings, including the New York City Industrial Development Agency and the New York State Housing Finance Agency. My experience includes tax-exempt commercial paper programs; variable, auction-rate, and option bonds; multiple forms of revenue bond financings, including many supported by various types of credit facilities; debt restructurings; pooled loan transactions; and derivative products, such as interest rate swaps.

    Disclosure and Compliance

    I spend a significant portion of my practice advising clients on regulatory developments and their compliance requirements. We serve as disclosure counsel (and 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. I currently serve as counsel to the Bond Dealers of America, tracking all regulatory and practice developments within the municipal markets, drafting comments to regulatory organizations regarding regulatory developments, and preparing memoranda and other communications to assist municipal market professionals.

    Looking ahead

    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.

    Insights

    • “Issuer Disclosure Requirements for Selling ESG, Sustainable Bonds,” BondLink & Nixon Peabody's At the Forefront of ESG, Social Media, and COVID-19 Disclosures Conference, June 10, 2021
    • “Disclosures and due diligence obligations during the COVID-19 crisis,” presentation to Indianapolis Bond Bank, May 22, 2020

    Admitted to practice

    New York

    Education

    Brooklyn Law School, J.D., 1994
    Fordham University, B.A.

    Professional activities

    • New York State Bar Association
    • National Association of Bond Lawyers
    • Member, Board of Trustees, Two River Theater

    Recognition

    • Selected, through a peer-review survey, for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2023 in the field of Public Finance Law
    • Recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in the New York Metro since 2018 for her work in Government Finance

    Super Lawyers periodically review lawyer credentials and solicits, reviews and evaluates peer feedback in determining who receives recognition. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey or any other applicable state bar reviewing authority.

    In the News

    • The Bond Buyer

      $765M Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority deal draws focus

      This article covers client Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority’s $765 million Payroll Mobility Tax Senior Lien Refunding Green Bonds, which were priced Thursday in the primary market. The NP team serving as bond counsel on this deal includes New York City partners Ken Lind, Liz Columbo, and Adam Gordon; Washington, DC partner Carla Young; New York City counsel Abigail Olsen; and New York City associates Kate Stack, Paul Dewey, and Georgia Sackey, all of the Project Finance & Public Finance practice.

      Jan 5, 2023
    • The Bond Buyer

      Puerto Rico's restructured bonds will be exempt, and provide fresh high-yield liquidity

      This article on Puerto Rico’s restructured general obligation bonds mentions NP for the firm’s determination that the bonds will be tax-exempt. The NP team is comprised of New York City partners Virginia Wong, Ken Lind, and Liz Columbo, and associate Sebastian Torres; Washington, DC partners Mitch Rapaport and Carla Young; and Los Angeles partner Angelica Valencia, all of the Project Finance & Public Finance group.
      March 3, 2022
    • The Bond Buyer

      Market sectors and segments pointed volume down in the Northeast

      The article on the state of the municipal bond markets mentions NP for serving as bond counsel on the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority’s $1.24 billion payroll mobility tax senior lean deal for MTA Bridges and Tunnels. The NP team included New York partners Liz Columbo, Ken Lind, Adam Gordon, Chris Reitzel, and counsel Abigail Olsen, and Washington DC partner Carla Young, all of the Project Finance and Public Finance group.
      Feb 25, 2022
    • The Bond Buyer

      Santee Cooper approves $1.3 billion tender, exchange bond refunding

      This article on Santee Cooper’s board approving a $1.3 billion tender and exchange bond refunding mentions the firm for serving as disclosure counsel. The NP team representing the South Carolina-owned utility company includes partners Liz Columbo, Virginia Wong, and Barry Rothchild of New York, Mitch Rapaport of Washington, DC, and New York counsel Abigail Olsen and associate Sebastian Torres-Rodriguez, all of the Project Finance & Public Finance group. Washington, DC Corporate partner Lloyd Spencer and Los Angeles Project Finance & Public Finance partner Dan Deaton assisted with the analysis of securities laws related to the tender and exchange.
      Feb 9, 2022
    • The Bond Buyer

      Santee Cooper OKs bond deal oversubscribed more than five times

      This article on Santee Cooper’s revenue and refunding bond deal, which drew $3.5 billion in orders from investors, mentions the firm for New York Project Finance & Public Finance partner Liz Columbo’s work representing the South Carolina-owned utility company as bond and disclosure counsel.
      Oct 28, 2020
    • Law360

      Evaluating SEC Plan For New Municipal Issuer Disclosures

      Public finance partners Julie Seymour (Chicago), Liz Columbo (New York) and Dan Deaton (Los Angeles) published a contributed article on the SEC’s proposed amendment to Exchange Act Rule 15c2-12 and what it could mean for market participants.
      March 13, 2017
    • New York Law Journal

      Awards for Pro Bono Service

      New York City Public Finance partner Liz Columbo is named among the attorneys recognized by the City Bar Justice Center with its sixth annual Jeremy G. Epstein Awards for Outstanding Pro Bono Service.
      Oct 23, 2014

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      June 8, 2022
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      April 11, 2022
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      Dec 2, 2021
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    Professionals in the Practice Area

    View All
    • Virginia Wong

      Partner / Practice Group Leader, Project Finance and Public Finance
      • New York
      • Office:212.940.3028
      • vwong@nixonpeabody.com
      Virginia Wong
    • Julie K. Seymour

      Partner / Strategic Impact Partner
      • Chicago
      • Office:312.977.4353
      • jkseymour@nixonpeabody.com
      Julie K. Seymour
    • Daniel M. Deaton

      Partner
      • Los Angeles
      • Office:213.629.6050
      • ddeaton@nixonpeabody.com
      Daniel M. Deaton
    • Scott R. Singer

      Partner
      • New York
      • Office:212.940.3182
        Mobile:917.886.5967
      • ssinger@nixonpeabody.com
      Scott R. Singer
    • Mitchell Rapaport

      Partner
      • Washington DC
      • Office:202.585.8305
        Mobile:202.288.4005
      • mrapaport@nixonpeabody.com
      Mitchell Rapaport
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