Kansas runs afoul of the SEC over pensions
Kansas has become the third state to get on the wrong side of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The commission says the state's public employees' retirement system committed securities fraud by not telling investors how underfunded the pensions of its 155,000 workers were.
Kansas joins New Jersey and Illinois in having been cited by the SEC in recent years for similar offenses. While not admitting or denying the SEC's finding, the state agreed not to commit any violations in the future.
The state's Treasurer and Attorney General did not immediately return requests for comment.
Related: Are you making one of these five big retirement mistakes?
The SEC said Kansas raised $273 million in bonds in 2009 and 2010 but failed to disclose to investors how badly the pension situation was. That meant that the bonds' buyers didn't know which obligations would be competing for state money that would be used to pay them back.
Kansas' finances have come under scrutiny of late. Last week. Standard & Poor's downgraded Kansas' credit rating last week because its tax cuts were more expensive than legislators initially let on.
First Published: August 11, 2014: 3:29 PM ET
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