High Finance Backfires on Alabama County (With a little help from JP Morgan)

New York Times ^ | 12 March 2008 | KYLE WHITMIRE and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

[LomanBill]

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In 2002, a banker named Charles E. LeCroy arrived here with a novel pitch to ease taxpayers’ burden. Some Wall Street wizardry, he said, could lighten their load.

...

Six years on, officials here are still struggling to untangle the financial web that Mr. LeCroy and his fellow bankers spun. Jefferson County is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy after a series of exotic bond deals that the bankers concocted went wrong

...

During the last few years, Jefferson County entered into a series of complex transactions, called swaps, worth a staggering $5.4 billion. The accusations and recriminations are flying. Talk of Wall Street tricks — and local corruption — has captivated residents and left many wondering how the county will pay its bills.

...

At the heart of this story are Mr. LeCroy, who arranged many of the transactions; a Montgomery investment banker, William Blount, whose firm, Blount Parrish & Company, earned larger fees than any other adviser on the transactions; and Larry P. Langford, the local official who signed off on the deals.

...

As a managing director at JPMorgan Chase, Mr. LeCroy persuaded the county to convert its debt from fixed interest rates to adjustable rates. He also recommended that the county use interest-rate swaps that he said would protect it if interest rates rose.

...

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

I'm sorry, where did I say anyone was honorable in this mess?

[LomanBill]

>>I’m sorry, where did I say anyone
>>was honorable in this mess?

Didn’t say you had. I was asking a question.

By your response then, I take it you agree that deliberately taking advantage of an inequity in financial knowledge or education is not honorable behavior; Is that correct?

[bamahead]

...and Larry P. Langford, the local official who signed off on the deals.



Then I have litte sympathy for the people of Jefferson County, who put the corrupt and shiftless Langford into power. This con artist has been lining his and his crony's coffers with taxpayer dollars for almost 40 years. The idiot populace of Birmingham, who vote based on race rather than merit, deserve what they get.

The only ones I do feel somewhat sorry for would be the outer edges of JeffCo, who don't vote for this twit. However, they're the ones who ran away from the city in the 60's and took their votes with them, and now the fruits of that exodus are coming home to roost.

Those who migrated to Shelby County are no doubt laughing.

[Ron Jeremy]

Well, I guess I really don’t know anything about this LeCroy guy.. do you have a good background link?

[Toddsterpatriot]

By your response then, I take it you agree that deliberately taking advantage of an inequity in financial knowledge or education is not honorable behavior;

Did they borrow money no-bid? Then they're stupid. Did they place a $5 billion bet on interest rates with no outside advice. Then they're stupid. Did they think they could plug a budget hole by gambling instead of cutting spending? Then they're stupid and maybe criminal.

Did they take a shot thinking they could sue their way out of the debt if they lost? Maybe they're just scumbags.

Is that correct?

Obviously we need a law against anything you think is dishonorable.

[LomanBill]

>>Well, I guess I really don’t know anything about
>>this LeCroy guy.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=LeCroy+JP+Morgan&btnG=Google+Search

[LomanBill]

>>Obviously we need a law

Why, so the legal spiders can cast a wider web?

>>against anything you think is dishonorable.

Interesting how you presume an association between legality and honor. How’s O.J. doing these days?

Do you think it’s honorable behavior to deliberately take advantage of an inequity in knowledge or education? Yes or No.

[AndyJackson]

they were trying to make money. So what?

First, I keep forgetting that I have to put in sarcasm warnings.

Second, it isn't just a bet. It is a government contract. There are two scoundrels in the deal, but in addition, the "beneficiary" is the taxpaying public, and it will be interesting to see how this ends up working out for JPM.

[mc6809e]

Do you think it’s honorable behavior to deliberately take advantage of an inequity in knowledge or education? Yes or No.

This guy represents over 200,000 people and a multi-billion dollar economy. He should know what he's doing.

If he doesn't, then he shouldn't have been elected.

[Southack]

"What the article doesn't say is now he's Mayor of Birmingham. It will be interesting to see if the city manages to escape bankruptcy under his stellar leadership."

The whole reason to put Langford into the Mayor's office is to break the city of Birmingham such that thousands of useless crony-jobs are terminated in bankruptcy court.

There is no politically acceptable way for a dying city to fire thousands of employees, save for bankruptcy.

Birmingham has hundreds of neighborhood associations that vote down every new corporate development...which is why Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Kia/Hyundai and others have all located near, but outside, the city limits.

The city will continue to hemorage population and jobs until that powerhold is broken.

Langford just speeds up that process, as the city has to go bankrupt, first.

[Southack]

"This guy represents over 200,000 people and a multi-billion dollar economy. He should know what he's doing. If he doesn't, then he shouldn't have been elected."

Langford is achieving his purpose on schedule...he bankrupts governments with ease (e.g. Fairfield, Bessemer, Visionland, Jefferson County, Birmingham, etc.).

How else can you fire so many lifelong city bureaucrats?!

[okie01]

Most politicians are really pretty simple-minded people. They’re not the sharpest tools in the shed.

And the closer you get to the local level, the more you find people who have NO idea of the intricate nature of modern finance.

But many of them do understand how to exploit their position and collect big money.

The corruption in rural Alabama counties is remarkable. Virtually everything is for sale -- dog track licenses, waste disposal areas, manufacturing sites, etc.

One school district built an elaborate new school...which was almost immediately labelled unusable due to construction flaws. The school board got rich, though.

Another town couldn't pay their light bill...because the mayor had spent the money on a new driveway for his palatial home.

I can't say that Jefferson County suffered from dumb politicians or corrupt politicians. My best guess, though, would be "both".

[Southack]

"And the closer you get to the local level, the more you find people who have NO idea of the intricate nature of modern finance."

Oh please. I just watched Senator Dick Durbin ask Exxon why it was charging old women and cripples so much for gasoline.

Durbin, Patty Murray, and Barbara Boxer couldn't understand why round pegs won't go into the square holes of children's toys.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Interesting how you presume an association between legality and honor.

I thought you were doing that? If the sleazy salesman did anything illegal, throw him in jail. Ditto for the elected officials.

Do you think it’s honorable behavior to deliberately take advantage of an inequity in knowledge or education?

How do you define "deliberately take advantage"?

[MHGinTN]

I used to play tennis with Larry ... sad to see he was duped in this way, because he is basically an honest man with a good heart.

[MHGinTN]

You left out that he’s a democrat.

[Toddsterpatriot]

I just figured out what happened to these clowns. Instead of locking in their rate, they went for one of those new deals where every month or so they have another auction to determine the rate they pay. This worked for a while and they probably saved 1/4 of a percentage point on their debt.

When liquidity dried up, no one wanted to buy their paper, at any rate, so that 1/4 point savings was lost in about a week. Luckily, they hedged against a general rise in rates. Unfortunately, rates fell, except on this type of paper.

They owe more on their debt and now their hedge is losing money as the Fed cuts the FF rate.

A broker I used to know said, "a spread ain't nothin' but a stick with shit on both ends". They got the mother of all shitty sticks.

[MHGinTN]

I’m planning a house in Jemison ... caught between the rock (Montgomery, capital and socialist haven) and the hard place (Birmingham, the biggest ‘city’ in Alabama and thoroughly lost to liberalism). Larry is a typical black democrat politician steeped in entitlements, as the Obama candidacy is showing us ... isn’t it Barry who stamped all opposed to him as ‘typical’?

[Southack]

Yes. Local hillbillies were talked into auction rate bond financing...by out-of-town players. Birmingham’s own in-city banks dissed the deal.

You can still hear Wallace Malone’s (old SouthTrust bank) scream of “HELL NO!” echoing from 1992 if you crack a window while driving through Bham.

[groanup]

Believe it or not I used to sell auction rate preferreds. That market has been marked by bad press from the get go. There is nothing wrong with the concept even as it was carried over to long term muni financing.

This Alabama fiasco has been well covered by Bloomberg. It is a typical small time politician cozying up to the slickies from NY who promise a pot of gold. There is absolutely no excuse for Jefferson County officials to believe anything a NY banker tells them unless they know it to be true or can independently verify it.

JPM has a sales force that goes out into flyover country and sells financial deals to CEO Joe. Nothting wrong with that until you find out they were peddling (and you were buying) stinky BS (recall Enron) and calling it attar.

Let the buyer beware. Or, if you're a fiduciary in any capacity, don't believe what you hear from a New York banker. LOL.