Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 135.14 – Investing interim moneys of public subdivisions

(A) As used in this section:
1. (1) "Treasurer" does not include the treasurer of state, and "governing board" does not include the state board of deposit.
2. (2) "Other obligations" includes notes whether or not issued in anticipation of the issuance of bonds.
(B) The treasurer or governing board may invest or deposit any part or all of the interim moneys. The following classifications of obligations shall be eligible for such investment or deposit:
1. (1) United States treasury bills, notes, bonds, or any other obligation or security issued by the United States treasury or any other obligation guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States. Nothing in the classification of eligible obligations set forth in division (B)(1) of this section or in the classifications of eligible obligations set forth in divisions (B)(2) to (7) of this section shall be construed to authorize any investment in stripped principal or interest obligations of such eligible obligations.
2. (2) Bonds, notes, debentures, or any other obligations or securities issued by any federal government agency or instrumentality, including but not limited to, the federal national mortgage association, federal home loan bank, federal farm credit bank, federal home loan mortgage corporation, and government national mortgage association. All federal agency securities shall be direct issuances of federal government agencies or instrumentalities.
3. (3) Interim deposits in the eligible institutions applying for interim moneys as provided in section 135.08 of the Revised Code. The award of interim deposits shall be made in accordance with section 135.09 of the Revised Code and the treasurer or the governing board shall determine the periods for which such interim deposits are to be made and shall award such interim deposits for such periods, provided that any eligible institution receiving an interim deposit award may, upon notification that the award has been made, decline to accept the interim deposit in which event the award shall be made as though the institution had not applied for such interim deposit.
4. (4) Bonds and other obligations of this state, or the political subdivisions of this state, provided that, with respect to bonds or other obligations of political subdivisions, all of the following apply:
  1. (a) The bonds or other obligations are payable from general revenues of the political subdivision and backed by the full faith and credit of the political subdivision.
  2. (b) The bonds or other obligations are rated at the time of purchase in the three highest classifications established by at least one nationally recognized standard rating service and purchased through a registered securities broker or dealer.
  3. (c) The aggregate value of the bonds or other obligations does not exceed twenty per cent of interim moneys available for investment at the time of purchase.
  4. (d) The treasurer or governing board is not the sole purchaser of the bonds or other obligations at original issuance. No investment shall be made under division (B)(4) of this section unless the treasurer or governing board has completed additional training for making the investments authorized by division (B)(4) of this section. The type and amount of additional training shall be approved by the treasurer of state and may be conducted by or provided under the supervision of the treasurer of state.
5. (5) No-load money market mutual funds consisting exclusively of obligations described in division (B)(1) or (2) of this section and repurchase agreements secured by such obligations, provided that investments in securities described in this division are made only through eligible institutions mentioned in section 135.03 of the Revised Code;
6. (6) The Ohio subdivision's fund as provided in section 135.45 of the Revised Code;
7. (7) Up to forty per cent of interim moneys available for investment in either of the following:
  1. (a) Commercial paper notes issued by an entity that is defined in division (D) of section 1705.01 of the Revised Code and that has assets exceeding five hundred million dollars, to which notes all of the following apply:
    1. (i) The notes are rated at the time of purchase in the highest classification established by at least two nationally recognized standard rating services.
    2. (ii) The aggregate value of the notes does not exceed ten per cent of the aggregate value of the outstanding commercial paper of the issuing corporation.
    3. (iii) The notes mature not later than two hundred seventy days after purchase.
    4. (iv) The investment in commercial paper notes of a single issuer shall not exceed in the aggregate five per cent of interim moneys available for investment at the time of purchase.
  2. (b) Bankers acceptances of banks that are insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation and that mature not later than one hundred eighty days after purchase. No investment shall be made pursuant to division (B)(7) of this section unless the treasurer or governing board has completed additional training for making the investments authorized by division (B)(7) of this section. The type and amount of additional training shall be approved by the treasurer of state and may be conducted by or provided under the supervision of the treasurer of state.
(C) Nothing in the classifications of eligible obligations set forth in divisions (B)(1) to (7) of this section shall be construed to authorize any investment in a derivative, and no treasurer or governing board shall invest in a derivative. For purposes of this division, "derivative" means a financial instrument or contract or obligation whose value or return is based upon or linked to another asset or index, or both, separate from the financial instrument, contract, or obligation itself. Any security, obligation, trust account, or other instrument that is created from an issue of the United States treasury or is created from an obligation of a federal agency or instrumentality or is created from both is considered a derivative instrument. An eligible investment described in this section with a variable interest rate payment, based upon a single interest payment or single index comprised of other eligible investments provided for in division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, is not a derivative, provided that such variable rate investment has a maximum maturity of two years.
(D) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, any investment made pursuant to this section must mature within five years from the date of settlement, unless the investment is matched to a specific obligation or debt of the subdivision.
(E) The treasurer or governing board may also enter into a written repurchase agreement with any eligible institution mentioned in section 135.03 of the Revised Code or any eligible dealer pursuant to division (M) of this section, under the terms of which agreement the treasurer or governing board purchases, and such institution or dealer agrees unconditionally to repurchase any of the securities listed in divisions (B)(1) to (5), except letters of credit described in division (B)(2), of section 135.18 of the Revised Code. The market value of securities subject to an overnight written repurchase agreement must exceed the principal value of the overnight written repurchase agreement by at least two per cent. A written repurchase agreement shall not exceed thirty days and the market value of securities subject to a written repurchase agreement must exceed the principal value of the written repurchase agreement by at least two per cent and be marked to market daily. All securities purchased pursuant to this division shall be delivered into the custody of the treasurer or governing board or an agent designated by the treasurer or governing board. A written repurchase agreement with an eligible securities dealer shall be transacted on a delivery versus payment basis. The agreement shall contain the requirement that for each transaction pursuant to the agreement the participating institution or dealer shall provide all of the following information:
1. (1) The par value of the securities;
2. (2) The type, rate, and maturity date of the securities;
3. (3) A numerical identifier generally accepted in the securities industry that designates the securities. No treasurer or governing board shall enter into a written repurchase agreement under the terms of which the treasurer or governing board agrees to sell securities owned by the subdivision to a purchaser and agrees with that purchaser to unconditionally repurchase those securities.
(F) No treasurer or governing board shall make an investment under this section, unless the treasurer or governing board, at the time of making the investment, reasonably expects that the investment can be held until its maturity.
(G) No treasurer or governing board shall pay interim moneys into a fund established by another subdivision, treasurer, governing board, or investing authority, if that fund was established for the purpose of investing the public moneys of other subdivisions. This division does not apply to the payment of public moneys into either of the following:
1. (1) The Ohio subdivision's fund pursuant to division (B)(6) of this section;
2. (2) A fund created solely for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, owning, leasing, or operating municipal utilities pursuant to the authority provided under section 715.02 of the Revised Code or Section 4 of Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution. For purposes of division (G) of this section, "subdivision" includes a county.
(H) The use of leverage, in which the treasurer or governing board uses its current investment assets as collateral for the purpose of purchasing other assets, is prohibited. The issuance of taxable notes for the purpose of arbitrage is prohibited. Contracting to sell securities that have not yet been acquired by the treasurer or governing board, for the purpose of purchasing such securities on the speculation that bond prices will decline, is prohibited.
(I) Whenever, during a period of designation, the treasurer classifies public moneys as interim moneys, the treasurer shall notify the governing board of such action. The notification shall be given within thirty days after such classification and in the event the governing board does not concur in such classification or in the investments or deposits made under this section, the governing board may order the treasurer to sell or liquidate any of such investments or deposits, and any such order shall specifically describe the investments or deposits and fix the date upon which they are to be sold or liquidated. Investments or deposits so ordered to be sold or liquidated shall be sold or liquidated for cash by the treasurer on the date fixed in such order at the then current market price. Neither the treasurer nor the members of the board shall be held accountable for any loss occasioned by sales or liquidations of investments or deposits at prices lower than their cost. Any loss or expense incurred in making such sales or liquidations is payable as other expenses of the treasurer's office.
(J) If any investments or deposits purchased under the authority of this section are issuable to a designated payee or to the order of a designated payee, the name of the treasurer and the title of the treasurer's office shall be so designated. If any such securities are registrable either as to principal or interest, or both, then such securities shall be registered in the name of the treasurer as such.
(K) The treasurer is responsible for the safekeeping of all documents evidencing a deposit or investment acquired by the treasurer under this section. Any securities may be deposited for safekeeping with a qualified trustee as provided in section 135.18 of the Revised Code, except the delivery of securities acquired under any repurchase agreement under this section shall be made to a qualified trustee, provided, however, that the qualified trustee shall be required to report to the treasurer, governing board, auditor of state, or an authorized outside auditor at any time upon request as to the identity, market value, and location of the document evidencing each security, and that if the participating institution is a designated depository of the subdivision for the current period of designation, the securities that are the subject of the repurchase agreement may be delivered to the treasurer or held in trust by the participating institution on behalf of the subdivision. Interest earned on any investments or deposits authorized by this section shall be collected by the treasurer and credited by the treasurer to the proper fund of the subdivision. Upon the expiration of the term of office of a treasurer or in the event of a vacancy in the office of treasurer by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, or otherwise, the treasurer or the treasurer's legal representative shall transfer and deliver to the treasurer's successor all documents evidencing a deposit or investment held by the treasurer. For the investments and deposits so transferred and delivered, such treasurer shall be credited with and the treasurer's successor shall be charged with the amount of money held in such investments and deposits.
(L) Whenever investments or deposits acquired under this section mature and become due and payable, the treasurer shall present them for payment according to their tenor, and shall collect the moneys payable thereon. The moneys so collected shall be treated as public moneys subject to sections 135.01 to 135.21 of the Revised Code.
(M)
1. (1) All investments, except for investments in securities described in divisions (B)(5) and (6) of this section and for investments by a municipal corporation in the issues of such municipal corporation, shall be made only through a member of the financial industry regulatory authority (FINRA), through a bank, savings bank, or savings and loan association regulated by the superintendent of financial institutions, or through an institution regulated by the comptroller of the currency, federal deposit insurance corporation, or board of governors of the federal reserve system.
2. (2) Payment for investments shall be made only upon the delivery of securities representing such investments to the treasurer, governing board, or qualified trustee. If the securities transferred are not represented by a certificate, payment shall be made only upon receipt of confirmation of transfer from the custodian by the treasurer, governing board, or qualified trustee.
(N) In making investments authorized by this section, a treasurer or governing board may retain the services of an investment advisor, provided the advisor is licensed by the division of securities under section 1707.141 of the Revised Code or is registered with the securities and exchange commission, and possesses experience in public funds investment management, specifically in the area of state and local government investment portfolios, or the advisor is an eligible institution mentioned in section 135.03 of the Revised Code.
(O)
1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (O)(2) and (3) of this section, no treasurer or governing board shall make an investment or deposit under this section, unless there is on file with the auditor of state a written investment policy approved by the treasurer or governing board. The policy shall require that all entities conducting investment business with the treasurer or governing board shall sign the investment policy of that subdivision. All brokers, dealers, and financial institutions, described in division (M)(1) of this section, initiating transactions with the treasurer or governing board by giving advice or making investment recommendations shall sign the treasurer's or governing board's investment policy thereby acknowledging their agreement to abide by the policy's contents. All brokers, dealers, and financial institutions, described in division (M)(1) of this section, executing transactions initiated by the treasurer or governing board, having read the policy's contents, shall sign the investment policy thereby acknowledging their comprehension and receipt.
2. (2) If a written investment policy described in division (O)(1) of this section is not filed on behalf of the subdivision with the auditor of state, the treasurer or governing board of that subdivision shall invest the subdivision's interim moneys only in interim deposits pursuant to division (B)(3) of this section or interim deposits pursuant to section 135.145 of the Revised Code and approved by the treasurer of state, no-load money market mutual funds pursuant to division (B)(5) of this section, or the Ohio subdivision's fund pursuant to division (B)(6) of this section.
3. (3) Divisions (O)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply to a treasurer or governing board of a subdivision whose average annual portfolio of investments held pursuant to this section is one hundred thousand dollars or less, provided that the treasurer or governing board certifies, on a form prescribed by the auditor of state, that the treasurer or governing board will comply and is in compliance with the provisions of sections 135.01 to 135.21 of the Revised Code.
(P) A treasurer or governing board may enter into a written investment or deposit agreement that includes a provision under which the parties agree to submit to nonbinding arbitration to settle any controversy that may arise out of the agreement, including any controversy pertaining to losses of public moneys resulting from investment or deposit. The arbitration provision shall be set forth entirely in the agreement, and the agreement shall include a conspicuous notice to the parties that any party to the arbitration may apply to the court of common pleas of the county in which the arbitration was held for an order to vacate, modify, or correct the award. Any such party may also apply to the court for an order to change venue to a court of common pleas located more than one hundred miles from the county in which the treasurer or governing board is located. For purposes of this division, "investment or deposit agreement" means any agreement between a treasurer or governing board and a person, under which agreement the person agrees to invest, deposit, or otherwise manage a subdivision's interim moneys on behalf of the treasurer or governing board, or agrees to provide investment advice to the treasurer or governing board.
(Q) An investment made by the treasurer or governing board pursuant to this section prior to September 27, 1996, that was a legal investment under the law as it existed before September 27, 1996, may be held until maturity.