SECTION 12.3. Bond Rating and Investment Letter

(a) Bond Ratings. All publicly offered Bonds issued by the Department to finance Developments shall have a debt rating the equivalent of at least an "A" rating assigned to long-term obligations by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, or Moody's Investors Service, Inc. If such rating is based upon credit enhancement provided by an institution other than the Applicant or Development Owner, the form and substance of such credit enhancement shall be subject to approval by the Board, evidenced by a resolution authorizing the issuance of the credit enhanced Bonds.

(b) Investment Letters. Bonds rated less than "A" or Bonds which are unrated must be placed with one or more Institutional Buyers and must be accompanied by an investor letter acceptable to the Department. Subsequent purchasers of such Bonds must also be qualified as Institutional Buyers and must execute and deliver to the Department an investor letter in a form satisfactory to the Department. Bonds rated less than "A" and Bonds which are unrated shall be issued in physical form, in minimum denominations of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), and must carry a legend requiring any purchasers of the Bonds to be Institutional Buyers and sign and deliver to the Department an investor letter in a form acceptable to the Department.

Source Note: The provisions of this §12.3 adopted to be effective November 30, 2023, 48 TexReg 6896