Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 71 - TREASURY-PUBLIC FUNDS › Part III - Bond Commission-Debt Management › Chapter 13 - Disclosure › Section III-1301 - Disclosure of Agreements between Financial Professionals for Negotiated Transactions

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. The
				duties of the Bond Commission (the "commission") require that it choose
				financial professionals (including, without limitation, firms of underwriters,
				financial advisors, and bond attorneys) in connection with certain bond issues
				and the commission predicates such choices upon the competing firms'
				experience, qualifications, and performance, in order that a broad spectrum of
				firms including minority and women-owned and regional firms are given an
				opportunity to actively and fully participate in such financings.
B. The commission's duties also require that
				it approve applications from local governmental entities to issue bonds and
				such applications include information on the financial professionals involved
				in handling the issues.
C. In order
				to insure the integrity of the structure of the financing team which the
				commission is charged with the responsibility of choosing and/or approving for
				handling bond issues, the commission hereby amends the following rule regarding
				agreements by and between such financial professionals as to the sale of such
				bonds.
1. Terms and/or existence of all joint
				accounts and/or any other fee-splitting arrangements by and between financial
				professionals must be disclosed and approved by the commission.
2. For bond issues for which the commission
				is charged with the responsibility to choose the financial professionals, the
				following will apply.
a. Firms under
				consideration for selection by the commission must file a disclosure statement
				to be submitted as part of their proposal (whether such proposal is solicited
				or unsolicited), listing any and all agreements by and between themselves and
				any other financial professionals which relate to the bond issue.
b. Financial professionals must include, in
				any proposal submitted to the commission, the name or names of any person or
				firm, including attorneys, lobbyists, and public relations professionals
				engaged to promote the selection of the particular financial entity.
c. Joint proposals from financial
				professionals will be allowed only if the commission's solicitation for offers
				requests and/or permits joint proposals. The commission reserves the right, in
				its sole discretion, to decide on an issue-by-issue basis whether joint
				proposals will be permitted.
d. All
				financial professionals submitting joint proposals and/or intending to enter
				into joint accounts or any fee-splitting arrangements in connection with a bond
				issue must fully disclose and have approved by the commission any plan or
				arrangement to share tasks, responsibilities, and fees earned, and disclose the
				financing professionals with whom this sharing is proposed, and any changes
				thereto which may occur.
e. The
				Agreement Among Underwriters will govern all transactions during the
				underwriting period and such agreement must be disclosed and filed with the
				commission.
f. No later than 45
				days following the bond sale, all participating underwriters must file with the
				commission in notarized affidavit form individual post-sale reports which
				include a full accounting for all bonds sold and all commissions earned, and
				any other compensation paid or earned in connection with such sale.
3. Failure to comply with any of
				the provisions of Section 1 of this rule may result in a firm's immediate
				dismissal, disqualification from later issues, or other penalties as may be
				provided by law or the rules, policies, and procedures of the commission as the
				commission, in its sole discretion, may deem appropriate.
4. For those bond issues which the commission
				must approve but for which the commission is not responsible for the choice of
				the financial professionals, the following will apply.
a. The details of any arrangements for
				compensation of all the financial professionals in the transaction (including
				any joint accounts or fee-splitting agreements) and the method used to
				calculate the fees to be earned must be provided to the commission in the
				written application. The commission's receipt of this information is a
				prerequisite for being placed on the agenda.
b. At closing, this information must be
				certified in notarized affidavit form by the financial professional to be
				correct and filed with the Bond Commission within five days thereof. This
				information will form a part of the public original record of the bond
				issue.