Type Public Limited Company Services Bonds Headquarters United Kingdom Area served United Kingdom | Industry Finance Website www.ukmba.org Founded 2014 | |
Key people Sir Merrick Cockell, Adrian Bell, Aidan Brady | ||
The UK Municipal Bonds Agency (UK MBA) is an agency that exists primarily to reduce councils' capital long term financing costs. It allows local authorities to diversify funding sources and borrow at a lower cost than is available from Central Government via the Public Works Loan Board of the UK Debt Management Office, which is part of HM Treasury. The agency will sell bonds on the capital markets, raising funds that it will then lend to councils.
Contents
- The Purpose of the UK Municipal Bonds Agency
- History
- Municipal Bond Agencies in Other Countries
- Key People
- References
The UK MBA was founded in 2014. It was founded by, is owned by and lends to Local Authorities within the United Kingdom.
The Purpose of the UK Municipal Bonds Agency
The UK Municipal Bonds Agency provides councils with lower borrowing costs.
The goal of the UK MBA is to lower costs for council taxpayers and provide value for money for councils, via the public bonds market.
The UK MBA will issue bonds backed by joint and several guarantees of the authorities involved.
History
As of January 2016, 56 local authorities as well as the LGA and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, have signed up as shareholders in the UK Municipal Bonds Agency.
Shortly before December 2015, a framework document setting out the working of the UK MBA was also distributed to councils with Cambridgeshire County Council becoming the first local authority to approve it in early February 2016.
Municipal Bond Agencies in Other Countries
The UK Municipal Bonds Agency is the first of its kind in the UK. However, municipal bonds agencies exist in other countries, such as Sweden and Finland. In New Zealand, the Local Government Funding Agency (LGFA), is the second-biggest issuer of New Zealand-dollar debt behind the government.
Key People
The Chairman of the UK MBA is Sir Merrick Cockell, who was previously head of the Local Government Association.
Its Vice Chairman is Adrian Bell, who also heads up JCRA's Canaccord Genuity team.
Its Chief Executive is Aidan Brady, who was previously a Chief Operating Officer at Deutsche Bank, an investment bank.
In January 2016 the UK MBA announced the appointment of four key non-executive appointments and converted to a public limited company (Plc) as it prepares for launch.
Sir Stephen Houghton, leader of Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and chair of Sheffield City Region Combined Authority, has been appointed senior independent director.
Other appointments include Derrick Anderson, former chief executive of Lambeth and Wolverhampton councils; Mridul Hegde, a former director of public spending at the Treasury; and Melanie McLaren, executive director of codes and standards of the Financial Reporting Council.