Illinois Settles SEC Claims It Misled Public on Pensions
This article is for subscribers only.
Illinois became the second state to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over charges it misled investors about a growing shortfall in its employee pension funds as it sold $2.2 billion in bonds.
From 2005 to 2009, Illinois failed to disclose the degree of underfunding for the plans, the SEC said today. The state didn’t adequately disclose cuts in its annual payments to buoy the funds, the agency said. Its pension debts swelled as the state borrowed and used accounting techniques that delayed for years steps to shore up the financing, the agency said.