document: UPDATE 1-Bank of America top Q1 muni underwriter ; total falls -LRB- Add details , background ; previous NEW YORK -RRB- SAN FRANCISCO , April 1 -LRB- Reuters -RRB- - Bank of America Merrill Lynch -LRB- BAC.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- was the top underwriter of long - and short-term U.S. municipal debt in the first quarter as total issuance fell by more than half from the year-earlier period , according to Thomson Reuters data released on Friday . Bank of America captured the top underwriting spot from January through March with 61 deals totaling $ 6.1 billion , followed by JPMorgan Securities LLC -LRB- JPM.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- with 63 deals totaling $ 5.4 billion . Morgan Stanley -LRB- MS.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- came in third with 33 deals totaling $ 4.3 billion . Citi -LRB- C.N : Quote , Profile , Research , Stock Buzz -RRB- was fourth with 53 deals totaling $ 3.9 billion . Citi was the top underwriter in the year-earlier period , as ranked by the value of deals . Bank of America , JPMorgan Securities and Morgan Stanley each advanced a rung in Thomson Reuters ' ranking from the year-earlier period based on deal values . Meanwhile , Robert W Baird & Co Inc was the first-quarter 's most prolific underwriter , notching 131 deals totaling $ 1.2 billion . Thomson Reuters data showed new sales of municipal bonds in the first quarter sank to $ 47 billion , the lowest quarterly level in 11 years , from $ 104 billion in the year-earlier period . The number of sales also fell sharply from the year-earlier period , dropping to 1,850 from 2,728 . The $ 2.9 trillion U.S. municipal debt market is facing an issuance drought as investors worry about state and local finances and high interest rates , which have been fueling sizable net outflows from the muni bond funds favored by retail investors . -LRB- Reporting by Chip Barnett in New York and Jim Christie in San Francisco ; Editing by Leslie Adler -RRB-
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