The New York Times says this about the Muni market: "It's hard to believe that a market this big remains such a disclosure backwater." While we take disclosures about corporate bond issues for granted, muni issue filings are still not available to the public (services will provide them for a fee, however). The column raises the issue of West Penn Allegheny Health System, a hospital system in Pittsburgh that raised $750 million in May 2007. But West Penn did not make public quarterly filings, and problems soon cropped up. An internal probe found that receivables had been overstated by $73 million. Reporters were apparently not invited to an explanatory conference call with investors. The SEC has proposed making filings open to the public (for free) and other reforms.

For more:
- here's the column

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