A Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA) or Bond Bank is

financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial inst ...

that serves as a vehicle for

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-lo ...

authorities such as

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

s and regions to access capital markets for the purpose of jointly procuring credit for public investment projects. The local and/or regional authorities of a country or state typically own the LGFA, sometimes with a minor ownership by the state. It works as a co-operative agency where the participating authorities come together in order to ensure lower interests rates on loans, based on the creditworthiness of the participating members. This co-operation can also help the local authorities to achieve a higher

credit rating A credit rating is an evaluation of the credit risk of a prospective debtor (an individual, a business, company or a government), predicting their ability to pay back the debt, and an implicit forecast of the likelihood of the debtor defaultin ...

than if they act independently. The agency normally does not seek to make profits and any surplus is usually reinvested in the activities. LGFAs exist and operate within the borders of the respective countries where they are found.

LGFAs by country

* Canada ( Municipal Authority of British Columbia, 1970) * Denmark ( KommuneKredit, 1898) * Finland (

Municipality Finance A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, 1989) * France ( Agence France Locale, 2013) * Italy ( Cassa del Trentino, 2005) * Netherlands ( Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten, 1914,

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank The Nederlandse Waterschapsbank (NWB Bank) ( en, Netherlands water boards bank) is a Dutch specialist financial institution that providing funding for water boards and local government organisations in the Netherlands. It is a Local Government Fu ...

, 1954) * New Zealand (

New Zealand Local Government Funding Agency New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

, 2009) * Norway ( Kommunalbanken, 1927), n.b. owned by the state. * Sweden (

Kommuninvest Kommuninvest is a Swedish Local Government Funding Agency that was set up in 1986 by Lars Andersson, former finance officer of the municipality of Örebro, Sweden. The scheme aims to help municipal governments to raise capital through the issuance ...

, 1986) * Switzerland ( Emissionszentrale der Schweizer Gemeinden, 1971) * United Kingdom ( Public Works Loan Board, 1793, UK Municipal Bonds Agency, 2014) * United States of America (various municipal bondbanks such as:

Vermont Municipal Bond Bank Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the ...

, 1970; Maine Municipal Bond Bank;

Sunshine State Governmental Financing Commission Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light. On Earth, sunlight is scattered and filtered through Earth's atmosphere, and is obvious as daylight when t ...

, 1985; and others)

LGFAs by country

References

Further reading