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Florida Pool Shows Signs of Recovery, Seeks SandP AAA Rating. BlackRock, which was brought in the salvage the troubled Florida State Board of Administration's Local Government Invesmtnet Pool, appears to have done the job. (See the update posted today on the SBA website.) The temporary manager has announced a borrowing program for pool participants with Wachovia Bank, progress towards an S&P AAA rating, and positive inflows for the first time since the temporarily frozen pool resumed limited redemptions on Dec. 10. Pool investors may redeem the greater of 15% of their balance or $2 million, and any new investments, and may now gain access to the remainder via the new loan program. BlackRock also notes the approaching resolution of problems in the SIV sector. The "broader market environment continues to evolve", citing Citibank's Dec. 14 "intention to bring $49 billion in SIVs" onto its balance sheet. The pool continues to hold over $10 billion in assets. (See also: David Evans of Bloomberg's "Florida Got Lehman Help Before Run on School's Funds", and "Fitch Monitoring Local Government Investment Pools; Notes Sound Credit Quality".)
