GFOA of the US & Canada - Debt Management

In the News:

At the GFOA annual business meeting on June 17, 2008, the GFOA membership approved two policy statements that had been developed by the GFOA's Standing Committee on Governmental Debt Management in January 2008 and approved by the Executive Board at its winter meeting. The first, Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLB) as Providers of Tax-Exempt Letters of Credit, supports legislation to allow Federal Home Loan Banks to offer letters of credit to municipal bond issuers without jeopardizing the tax-exempt status of the bonds. The second, Patenting of Tax Strategies and Techniques in Public Finance, speaks to the emergence of tax patents being issued for business practices and tax strategies, including municipal bond transactions. The policy calls for the GFOA to support legislation that would prohibit the patenting of such practices. Without such legislation, state and local governments may be subject to greater issuance costs, possible penalties, and patent litigation exposure, and could be precluded from executing their own transactions.
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