DealBreaker Afterhours: Muni Bond Fairness Law Moves Forward

Posted by John Carney, Jul 30, 2008, 5:54pm

We interrupt happy hour to report told that the House Financial Services Committee has finalized a bill introduced earlier this month by Barney Frank that would place increased regulatory scrutiny on bond insurers and rating agencies, according to sources in our nation's capital. The so-called "Municipal Bond Fairness Act" as the legislation is named, would require bond insurers to submit information about their financial soundness. It also requires ratings agencies to use one standard to rate both corporate and municipal bonds.

Frank has been one of the critics of the bond rating system, claiming that the ratings have raised borrowing costs for municipalities despite their relative safety compared with corporate debt. You already know what we think of this theory.

The bill will now likely go to the full House for consideration. We, on the other hand, are going to our local watering hole for drinks.

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Comments

1

Posted by guest, Jul 30, 2008 8:33PM

barney frank's greatness is rivaled only by barack obama. carney, go stab yourself

2

Posted by guest, Jul 30, 2008 9:15PM

"That arrangement is similar to the one used earlier this year by Swiss bank UBS (UBS), which like Citi and Merrill has been laboring under a massive inventory of toxic mortgage-related debt. Back in May, asset manager BlackRock bought $15 billion of debt from UBS. BlackRock raised $3.75 billion in equity - more than half of it from the sovereign wealth funds that have plowed billions into Merrill and Citi over the past year - and UBS lent the firm the rest."

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/29/news/newsmakers/thain.denial.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008072915

Ha!... Doesn't than mean Merrill implicitly bought 49% of that $15bn back in may while they were trying dumb their own there own portfolio of mortgage/terd hybrids. Thain is bailing out as fast as he can but the ship is leaking from below the water line.

3

Posted by guest, Jul 30, 2008 9:26PM

yeah yeah, typos typos.... brain fart.

4

Posted by guest, Jul 30, 2008 10:21PM

OK I finally saw Lindsay's birth control ad.

5

Posted by guest, Jul 30, 2008 10:26PM

FASHIONISTA IS HARD UP FOR A new intern butt licker TO BE THE Personal ass wipe for faran and natalie!

6

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 9:16AM

this is the best part of the bill..an amendment that passed:

"Calls for the standards of bond ratings to be objective, not subjective, and verifiable through documentation and disclosure."

7

Posted by Debter, Jul 31, 2008 11:32AM

#6 this is why the retards in Congress should leave it well enough alone. That little amendment actually means it's still going to be subjective. (Which is what I suppose you're getting at).

8

Posted by guest, Jul 31, 2008 1:13PM

pipe-smoker and male-intern-groper alert.

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