Jefferson County Bankruptcy

Jefferson County, Alabama, has reached an agreement in its bankruptcy to refinance much of its debt. The county's bankruptcy filing, with debt of $4.2 billion, makes it the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. JPMorgan is giving up about $842 million, or about 70 percent of the face value of the debt it held of the county's bonds. JPMorgan has been been under fire because of the way the company had refinanced the county's debt in 2002 and 2003. After the refinancing, several elected officials were sentenced to prison. The terms of the settlement also included the resolution of a lawsuit filed by the county against JPMorgan.