Recently there has been renewed discussion about "global scale" ratings for municipal bonds.

In December of last year the U.S. House of Representatives passed provisions to require all ratings be done on a single scale, and Moody's announced that it would disclose its plan for harmonizing municipal ratings into their global scale in early 2010. Additionally, S&P released a report discussing some of the upgrades they have been assigning in conjunction with criteria revisions.

How will these changes affect the market? Would regulations help or hurt the situation? And will you be ready for the revisions?

This commentary is designed to highlight what we've witnessed in ratings and to assist our clients to potentially benefit from circumstances that result. Please contact me with any questions or if Mesirow Financial can be of further assistance.

Peter Bianchini
Managing Director, Senior Municipal Strategist
+1 925.386.0262