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Report of the Comptroller, 1997-98
Volume 197, Page 24   View pdf image (33K)
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Watching the Marketplace


Maintaining
the Triple A
General
Obligation
bond rating
wasa
Goldstein
hallmark
Most Marylanders probably can't
explain exactly what a Triple A bond
rating is, but they know it's important
because Louis Goldstein said so and
because he made it a cornerstone of
Maryland's financial management.
Thanks to Comptroller Goldstein,
Maryland became the first state to
issue comprehensive bond disclosure
statements before its General Obliga-
tion bond sales, long before such
statements became a requirement of
the marketplace. Louis Goldstein also
made it a point to visit the financial
wizards of Wall Street and to invite
them to Maryland for a look at what
stood behind Maryland's reputation
for fiscal excellence.
Maryland remains one of only
eight states in the nation to retain the
coveted Triple A General Obligation
bond rating from all of the major
independent bond rating agencies.
From 1971 through mid-1998, the
Triple A rating saved the taxpayers
of Maryland more than $147 million
in interest costs, compared to the
next highest Double A rating.
Louis Goldstein also applied his
financial acumen to his role as the
chairman of the Board of Trustees of
the Maryland State Retirement
System. Just weeks before the 500-
point stock market correction of
October 19, 1987, he engineered the
system's now-famous "stock for
bond" swap - selling $2.3 billion
worth of common stocks and later
purchasing investment grade bonds.

Comptroller Goldstein served on the Maryland Board of Public Works, the state's
highest administrative body - which sells Maryland's General Obligation Bonds -
with seven governors and six state treasurers. In 1981, Governor Harry Hughes
(center) and Treasurer William S. James (left) agreed with Mr. Goldstein that high
interest rates warranted issuing 10-year bonds instead of the usual 15-year
term. Photo by Mike Walsh
24

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Report of the Comptroller, 1997-98
Volume 197, Page 24   View pdf image (33K)
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