ATLANTA — The Government Finance Officers Association’s debt committee Saturday agreed to update a best practices document on the pricing of bonds in a negotiated sale.
At its summer meeting at the start of the 104th Annual Conference here, the committee made plans to submit a slightly revised document later this summer to the GFOA executive board, which would then vote on it at its October meeting.
The BP, which is part of a group of five documents tied to the sale of bonds, has not been updated since 2000. The changes were described as relatively small. For instance, they include more neutral language about retail order periods in that the revised BP would suggest that issuers work with the underwriter to develop an appropriate premarketing efforts, “such as a one- or two-day retail order period.”
That would replace existing language that more explicitly encourages the consideration of a retail period.
Meanwhile, the committee agreed to make changes to the language of a “Financing the Capital Improvement Program” BP drafted by the GFOA committee on economic development and capital planning. Debt committee members said they would expand or revise several sections of the draft BP after discussing it with the economic development committee.
While committee members said that said they are working on a primary-market disclosure BP in coordination with the National Association of Bond Lawyers, they are still developing the document and did not have it ready for consideration at the meeting here.
