By: CBS4 Newsroom
newsroom@cbs4qc.com
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Illinois has settled with the federal government on charges of securities fraud.
The Securities and Exchange Commission claims the state misled investors about the health of its pension system. Gov. Pat Quinn's office said Monday that the state has agreed to settle the SEC case. The SEC said in a news release that Illinois admitted no wrongdoing but has made more complete disclosures since 2009. The case revolved around more than $2 billion of municipal bonds sold from 2005 to early 2009 to pay state obligations to public-employee pension programs.
The SEC charged that the state did not adequately inform investors that a 50-year funding plan adopted in 1995 did not adequately cover pension liabilities. The five pensions systems are now $97 billion in debt and a solution is lawmakers' top priority.
