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.

...

 

[machenation]

Freedom is:
Putting a bullet on the railroad tracks, dowsing the bullet with lighter fluid and lighting the fluid to see the bullet explode. Education is not a commodity that can be ignored.

[Toddsterpatriot]

There is nothing wrong with the concept even as it was carried over to long term muni financing.

I agree. Some on this thread would claim that selling these securities is immoral. I'll bet they didn't use that word when these securities were saving money for the client.

[groanup]

Some on this thread would claim that selling these securities is immoral

When anything monetary goes bust, those who were making money off of it will be the first to point fingers at those who created and sold it. It's NEVER the fault of the investors who should have been prudent in the first place. This is especially true for people who are in charge of other peoples' money. Orange County, California comes to mind.

The funny thing about that fiasco is that NGO's like FNMA and FHLB were the issuers who created the toxic waste but they didn't get any blame. Only the peddlers got sued. And the world turns.

[groanup]

I think the downfall was when closed end funds realized they could juice their returns by issuing auction rate preferreds and investing long. Borrow short/ lend long. After hundreds of years of experience it still catches some really smart people - and zeroes them out.

[Harrius Magnus]

Is the exploitation of stupidity honorable?

It's moot, as honor is seldom valued, carries a disincentive in most cases, and is even celebrated by liberals..  In the decaying American, it has become the cultural norm in all but the most singular form.  You neglect to realize this at your own peril. 

This, in part, explains why these conflicts are often decided in the courts, the new social arbitrers of morality (see California Homosexual Marriage (sic)).  JPM and the plaintiff actually prefer to have it in the courts: Both parties would not favor well against a educated, moral citizenry nor omnipotent God.  This was the judge and jury of yesteryear America, and unfortunately, liberals have been quite effective in snuffing them both to only a volatile remnant.

[LomanBill]

>> 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.

Misrepresentation seems to be more the norm these days. From the Mayor of Birmingham on up to the POTUS.

I’d like to think, for instance, that GW was smarter than to get duped by “Godfather of Subprime”, Roland Arnal - whom he appointed to the Ambassadorship to the Netherlands; but he wasn’t.

[LomanBill]

>>I thought you were doing that?

You thought wrong. Creating new laws will not fill the growing chasm between what is honorable and what is legal.

>>How do you define “deliberately take advantage”?

The word I have in mind is “Swindler”.

[NVDave]

Those clowns in the Senate aren’t stupid about only modern finance.

They’re simply more stupid than a truckload of stump holes. About everything.

There are some honorable local pols, who do a good job on the whole, but you get them onto the subject of bonds, financing, bond ladders as investment(s) for budget surpluses, etc — and the have that “deer in the headlights of a Peterbilt” look about them.

[Toddsterpatriot]

The word I have in mind is “Swindler”.

So selling them a product that saves them money is okay?

[LomanBill]

>>So selling them a product that saves them money is okay?

 

The product the citizens of Jefferson County were sold via the collusion of their fiduciary representative with NY bankers didn't save them any money. 

 

Apparently the people of Philadelphia had a similar experience:

"Out-of-town players also included Wall Street types such as Charles LeCroy, former managing director of the southeast regional office of J. P. Morgan and Anthony Snell, a former J. P. Morgan vice president. LeCroy and Snell hailed from Florida and Georgia respectively. Both pled guilty to billing J. P. Morgan for $50,000 worth of non existent legal work by Ronald White. In exchange for his influence in obtaining city business for J. P. Morgan. Business that was also beneficial to LeCroy and Snell."

 

[AndyJackson]

“Godfather of Subprime”, Roland Arnal - whom he appointed to the Ambassadorship to the Netherlands;

Naww. Couldn't be. As the Church found from selling indulgences (great word, isn't it), reformation was a bIt@H.

[LomanBill]

>>that “deer in the headlights of
>>a Peterbilt” look about them.

But isn’t that by design?

The more complex the game, the more shells there are to hide the pea under....

[Toddsterpatriot]

The product the citizens of Jefferson County were sold via the collusion of their fiduciary representative with NY bankers didn't save them any money.

The auction rate preferreds didn't save them money?

[Hilltop]

Larry talks smooth.

That’s the kindest I can say.

[LomanBill]

>>The auction rate preferreds didn’t save them money?

That the going rate for the soul of a city these days?

[Bryan24]

Just a note to all out of staters:

The mayor of Birmingham, Larry Langford, is basically a con artist. He’s a radical stuck in the 1970s.

The City of Birmingham has been gutted by the administrations of Richard Arrington and now Larry Langford. Both are black and basically ran a “if you are not black you can’t run the city” platfrom.

The black politicians in Birmingham view the city and Jefferson County as their personal “get-rich-now” playgrounds.

[Toddsterpatriot]

That the going rate for the soul of a city these days?

Cities have a soul?

The auction rate preferreds didn’t save them money?

[LomanBill]

>>Cities have a soul?

Oh, that’s right you’re from Chicago. Sorry.

>>The auction rate preferreds didn’t save them money?

You mean like those exploding ARMs “saved money” for the folks that got hooked by Ameriquest’s boiler-room peons?

[Toddsterpatriot]

I had an ARM and saved lots of money. Sorry you were sold a bill of goods. You should have asked someone who understood math, before you signed.

[LomanBill]

>>Sorry you were sold a bill of goods.

LOL. I’ve never had an ARM.