bond

Bid rigging, tax evasion and other forms of racketeering are rife in the municipal bond business and a huge multijurisdiction criminal investigation has been underway for several years now, the New York Times reports in its business pages. Public toll agencies base almost all their longterm financing on the municipal bond markets so it is of great interest within the US toll industry.

A special meeting of the board of North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) has been called Oct 13 to push back the deadline for sale of Series 2008 bonds to May 19 2009. The resolution being put tot he board also would permit an index floating rate to be part of the issuance.

The moves are apparently a reaction to turmoil in the capital markets.

TOLLROADSnews 2008-10-10