Bloomberg reported that Jefferson County, Alabama declared the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The filing came after state lawmakers failed to back a September agreement with creditors led by JPMorgan Chase that would have reduced its sewer-system debt of more than $3 billion.
The Chapter 9 filing leaves creditors including JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and may revive concern that defaults may rise in the $2.9 trillion municipal bond market.