Ex Legal

It sounds like an action movie where the once straight-laced, desk-bound FBI agent goes rogue to take down a violent cartel by any means necessary. "They went after his family, so he went...Ex Legal!"

It's also a term related to municipal bonds.

Municipal bonds are debt securities issued by local governments to fund various projects. Muni bonds (as their friends call them) carry certain tax advantages, so most of them come with an endorsement from a bond law firm attesting to their validity. Fundamentally, this statement, printed on the bond, acts as a stamp of approval, letting investors know that the bond is a genuine muni bond, eligible for all the attendant tax benefits.

A muni bond is issued "ex legal" if it doesn't come with this endorsement. Usually, the opinion from the bond law firm is required, but occasionally municipalities can't get the sign-off they need. Rather than call off the issue, they sell the bonds anyway.

These ex-legal bonds carry higher risk than the typical muni bond, since the lack of the legal opinion suggests something unusual took place in the creation of the security. Caveat Shmooptor.