MuniMae Enters Margin Call Pact

Municipal Mortgage & Equity LLC, Baltimore, has addressed strains from municipal bond market woes by entering into an agreement with Merrill Lynch Capital Services to meet future margin calls without posting additional cash as collateral. "Under the agreement, Merrill Lynch has received a security interest in MuniMae's ownership of the common shares of MuniMae TE Bond Subsidiary LLC, an entity that holds the company's housing bonds and interests in housing bonds originated by the company, in place of collateral related to margin calls," the Baltimore-based company said. MuniMae said it retained the right to terminate the agreement at any time, but it would have to do so by posting cash equal to the then-outstanding margin balance. The agreement protects MuniMae "against future margin calls up to the lesser of $100 million or 50% of the value from time to time of TE Bond Subsidiary shares as determined by Merrill Lynch," the Baltimore-based company said. MuniMae can be found online at http://www.munimae.com.