Lars M. Andersson and Nicholas Anderson, Senior Vice President at SEK Sweden, have published an article entitled ’Nordic know-how’ about the Local Government Funding Agency concept in the June 2012 issue of the magazine ’c’llr’ published by The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU, link) and aimed at local politicians in the UK. The magazine in its entirety can be read for free here, and the article ”Nordic know-how” is available as a pdf here.
On May 23 the six local authorities associations of France arranged a conference with the theme ’Menace sur les investissements publics locaux : quelles solutions?’ (press release, link). The conference was attended by 300 representatives of the government, other state entities and local authorities. The event was also televised to local authorities all over France. Here you will find Lars M. Andersson’s speech (in French).
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Read Mark Luntley’s article (link) on the blog Local Welfare (link) about the need for infrastructure investments and the situation for British local authorities.
Mark Luntley has a long experience of UK local authorities. He has been Finance Director of Oxford City and, before that, in the Western Isles in Scotland. After Oxford Mark joined the Local Government association and now he is working with a project that evaluates the possibilities of introducing a local government collective agency with the aim to finance UK local authorities.
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The latest issue of the UK magazine Public Finance has an article about how the financial crisis has hit local authorities in many parts of the world. The article has the headline ’Painting the town red’ and is written David Walker, a commentator of public affairs. Lars M. Andersson gives his views on why local authority investments are important for financial recovery and how local authority cooperation could be a way to secure financing for capital spending.
Find the article here.
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Lars M. Andersson is guest-columnist on the Innovation Blog of the New Local Governemntal Network UK. Read his entry on ”Local Authorities and Risk” here.
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Lars M. Andersson has appeared as a guest-columnist on the Innovation Blog of the New Local Governemntal Network UK with an entry on the question of ”cross-guarantees” and Local Government Funding Agencies. Read the text in full here.
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The English Local Government Association (LGA) is now in the process of studying the possibilities of forming a local government funding agency. This is done in cooperation with the Local Government Associations of Wales. The first phase is due to be completed in January next year, when a decision will be made whether to continue the process or not.
In case of a continuation a further study process of about six months is perceived. Mark Luntley at LGA is heading this project.
Mark Luntley
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The British think-tank New Local Government Network (NLGN) launched last Wednesday (Dec 8, 2011) their report Capital Futures at an event at RICS, Parliament Square, Westminster, London.
The report is written by Tom Symons, NLGN, as a result of a project that started during spring this year. Lars M. Andersson has participated in the project by a presentation given at a seminar in London in July, where he spoke about financial cooperation between municipalities and by giving comments on the report before it was finalised.
The background to this project is the need to find new ways of financing local investments in a situation where the local authorities are experiencing big cuts in capital grants and the Public Works Loan Board have raises their margins substantially. In the project report one can, for example, find chapters on bond finance, retail bonds and local government funding agencies.
At the event Tom Symons presented the report and short speeches were given by, among others:
Lord Shipley, Vice-president of the Local Government Association
Edward Twiddy, Head of Local Government and the Regions, HM Treasury
Rt. Hon Hilary Benn MP, Shadow Secretary of State, CLG
It was a great interest for the event with presence from ministries, local governments, banks and auditing firms.
The report can be ordered from NLGN’s website.
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Lars M. Andersson participated, after a special invitation, as the representative of the French Association d’études pour l’agence de financement des collectivités locales, at the 4th meeting of the EAPB (European Association of Public Banks) Chief Economist meeting in Brussels. The meeting took place October 17-18 in the European Parliament. The agenda included speakers from the European Commission, The European Parliament, KfW of Germany, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti of Italy and the Catholic University of Leuven. The topics on the agenda included the following
See: EAPB’s website
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The board of Kommuninvest has decided to appoint Lars M. Andersson to chair a Drafting Group set up to suggest appropriate researchers and institutions whose work on municipal financing should be encouraged. Every year an award will be allocated by the board of Kommuninvest on the recommendation of the Drafting Group. This will be a potentially important support to the most innovative and interesting research on the topics related to finance and local authorities carried out in the world of Swedish higher education. The Drafting Group will also include participants from academia as well as representatives from Kommuninvest.
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Lars M. Andersson 
Lars M Andersson is a member of the Supervisory Board of Agence France Locale and Chair of the Strategy Committee within the agency’s board. He is also a member of the board of Fonds mondial pour le développement des villes (FMDV, Global Fund for Cities Development) as well as advisor to the English Local Government Association (LGA) in a project with the aim of creating a Municipal Bond Agency.
Local authorities around the world face considerable problems financing services and infrastructure projects. States are cutting grants and it is hard to access cost-efficient funding through the commercial banks. One decentralised alternative is a model in which the local authorities join their forces to raise capital in the international markets. These Local Government Funding Agencies (LGFA), also known as ‘Local Government Collective Agency’ or ’Municipal Bond Bank’, have proved effective in a number of countries, and the idea is spreading. Lars M. Andersson is a pioneer in the area of LGFA, with over 30 years of experience in the field. He initiated and became the first President of Kommuninvest – the Swedish Local Government Funding Agency in 1986. He is a frequently sought after advisor in a number of countries in questions of local finance and the LGFA model.
Bienvenue
Les collectivités locales du monde entier sont confrontées à d’énormes problèmes de financement des services et des projets d'infrastructure. Les États réduisent leurs subventions et il est difficile d'accéder à des financements rentables par le biais des banques commerciales. Une alternative décentralisée existe néanmoins ; il s’agit d’un modèle dans lequel les collectivités locales unissent leurs forces pour lever des capitaux sur les marchés internationaux. Ces agences de financement des collectivités locales (AFCL), aussi connues comme « organismes de financement municipaux » ou « banques d’obligations municipales », se sont révélées efficaces dans un certain nombre de pays, et l'idée se propage. Lars M. Andersson est un pionnier en matière d’AFCL, avec plus de 30 années d'expérience dans ce domaine. En 1986, il a créé le Kommuninvest — l'Agence suédoise de financement des collectivités locales —, dont il est devenu le premier président. Il est fréquemment sollicité dans un grand nombre de pays pour ses talents de conseiller en matière de finances locales, et au sujet du modèle AFCL.
Bienvenido
Las autoridades legales de todo del mundo afrontan serios problemas para financiar servicios y proyectos de infraestructura. Los estados estan reduciendo subvenciones y es difícil acceder a financiamiento costo-eficiente a través de los bancos mercantiles. Una alternativa descentralizada es un modelo en el cual las autoridades locales unen sus fuerzas para recaudar capital en los mercados internacionales. Estas Agencias de Financiamiento del Gobierno Local (AFGL), también conocidas como 'Agencias Colectivas del Gobierno Local' o 'Bancos de Bonos Municipales', han comprobado ser efectivas en varios países y la idea se propaga. Lars M. Andersson es un pionero en el área de las AFGL, con más de 30 años de experiencia en el tema. Él fundó y fue el primer Presidente de Kommuninvest—la Agencia Sueca de Financiamiento del Gobierno Local, en 1986. Es un consultor internacionalmente solicitado en los temas de financiamiento local y el modelo AFGL.
