Handbook for Muni-Bond Issuers
HANDBOOK FOR MUNI-BOND ISSUERS
IN TODAY’S HIGHLY STRATIFIED and heavily regulated municipal bond market, nothing can be left to chance. It is imperative that issuers have a working knowledge of the bond market and a solid understanding of all of its rules.
The Handbook for Muni-Bond Issuers provides professionals with succinct guidance on what issuers need to know before beginning the issuance process – choosing a method of sale, getting the right financial advice, disclosure and legal guidelines, and lowering the cost of financing. It includes a detailed discussion of what happens prior to a sale through what to expect after the close.
Author Joe Mysak takes issuers through the process, step-by-step, with smart answers and pragmatic strategies for success in today’s muni-bond market.
This book provides an insider’s perspective on:
♦ Choosing a method of sale
♦ Finding the right financial advisers
♦ What to expect from regulators
♦ Earning a high credit rating
Fresh and clearly written, this excellent primer on issuing municipal bonds, from an industry insider, is a key to the market that no participant should be without.
“Joe Mysak has written the new bible for municipal bond issuers. The search is over; this book provides clear guidance and smart answers for everyone in the field.”
“Joe Mysak explains even the most complex subjects with a refreshing simplicity. He maintains his ever-present skepticism about much of what usually turns out to be flimflam in the guise of new products and financial engineering. This is a book for anyone, even investors without specialized financial backgrounds, who needs to understand what all the noise is about in a bond sale.”
‘Joe Mysak has prepared a “pocket-sized financial adviser” for both large and small municipal bond issuers. The book provides a good mix of timeless as well as currently topical subjects. All recently elected public finance officials should read this book.”
”The Handbook for Muni-Bond Issuers is what public finance professionals want to have on their shelves, both a good read and a useful reference. Joe Mysak treats the fundamentals – and the foibles – of the municipal bond market in clear, concise language and takes time to tour some frequently bypassed, but very practical subjects, like winning bond elections and investing bond proceeds.”
“Joe Mysak has once again proven that he’s the conscience of the public finance business.”
“Joe Mysak’s book will guide any municipal finance professional through the labyrinth of bond issuance. His user-friendly style bypasses the usual esoteric and technical jargon. Finally, a book of practical solutions for any muni-bond issuer.”
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© 1998 by Joe Mysak. All rights reserved. Protected under the Berne Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, please write: Permissions Department, Bloomberg Press, 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 or send an e-mail to [email protected].
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This publication contains the author’s opinions and is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information. It is sold with the understanding that the author, publisher, and Bloomberg L.P. are not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, investment-planning, or other professional advice. The reader should seek the services of a qualified professional for such advice; the author, publisher, and Bloomberg L.P. cannot be held responsible for any loss incurred as a result of specific investments or planning decisions made by the reader.
ISBN-13: 978-1-57660-023-8
The Library of Congress has cataloged the earlier printing as follows:
Mysak, Joe
Handbook for muni-bond issuers / Joe Mysak.
p. cm. – (Bloomberg professional library)
Includes index.
1. Municipal bonds. I. Title. II. Series.
HG4726.M95 1998
332.63’ 233-dc21 97-52168
CIP
Acquired and edited by Steve Gittelson and Jacqueline Murphy
Graphs and charts by Myra Klockenbrink
Acknowledgments
THE WRITER THOMAS WOLFE once wrote a story called Only the Dead Know Brooklyn. The title was an allusion to the sheer size of the borough, which before its inclusion into the City of New York at the turn of the century was once one of the biggest cities in America.
In similar fashion, we have the municipal bond market, which is vast, and which is particular and specific to a remarkable degree. No one can know the entire municipal market. This book is an attempt to distill 16 years of experience in covering this most fascinating of all credit markets into a brief and readable format. I have had a lot of help along the way.
First, I wish to thank James Grant and Jay Diamond at Grant’s, who in 1994 welcomed me into their publishing family. Grant’s Municipal Bond Observer, a fortnightly magazine aimed at the trade, was born. In 1997, they further endorsed the idea of launching a special magazine aimed at municipal bond issuers: Grant’s Municipal Bond Issuer. It was not until I put together a fortnightly magazine that I really became a student of the market. Jim and Jay are thorough professionals dedicated to putting out first-rate products, and are also good guys.
There are not many municipal bond journalists, but I have had a chance to work with the best ones, including John Allan, Bill Ryan, Craig Ferris, and John McCorry. These were my teachers.
And then there are my colleagues, the former merry band who comprised the staff of what we then termed the Greatest, Most Elite Newsgathering Organization in the History of the World, now sadly dispersed. These include Jack Doran, Steve Dickson, Dennis Walters, Lynn Stevens Hume, Vicky Stamas, Karen Pierog, April Hattori, Keith DuBay, Sean Monsarrat, Patrick Fitzgibbons, Jim Murphy, Ted Hampton, Aarons Pressman and Task, Kathie O’Donnell, David Gillen, Sharon King, Suzanne Montanaro, Susan Kelly, Christina Pretto, Rob Taylor,