Tobacco.org

Moody's removes NY tobacco bonds penalty on ruling 

Moody's Investors Service said on Friday it will no longer rate tobacco bonds of New York counties one notch lower than similar debt sold by other cities and states following a federal court ruling.

A judge for the Southern District of New York in the Second Circuit dismissed claims filed by a cigarette maker that had not joined the 1998 national settlement between states and cigarette makers, Moody's said in a statement.

The ruling by Judge Alvin Hellerstein, which he reached in November and finalized on Jan. 12, upheld a statute that requires payments even from cigarette makers that had not joined the settlement.

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