The Municipal Bond Market and the MSRB
50 Years of Protecting Investors, Issuers and the Public Interest
by Mark Kim, MSRB CEO
Communities across the nation have long issued municipal bonds to raise capital to build public infrastructure. From the water we drink, to the roads and bridges that get us where we need to be, to the schools that educate our children and the hospitals that care for our sick, everywhere you look, municipal bonds are improving our quality of life. For 50 years, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) has been working hard to ensure the integrity of the $4 trillion municipal bond market that gives America the confidence to invest in its communities. |
In 1975, Congress established MSRB as an independent, private self-regulatory organization (SRO) to protect investors, issuers and the public interest by ensuring a fair and efficient municipal securities market. As an SRO, we are governed by a board of directors that includes both public and regulated members, all of whom have extensive market expertise. This broad representation ensures MSRB has the knowledge and experience necessary to address a rapidly evolving market through informed regulation that safeguards the interests of the investors and issuers we are responsible for protecting.
As MSRB celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, we remain resolute in upholding our congressional mandate through market regulation, market transparency and market integrity. We are advancing MSRB’s mission by:
- Establishing rules for the municipal securities market and re-examining existing ones to ensure they continue to effectively carry out their intended purposes and to foster market innovation and competition.
- Operating technology systems that are essential to a fair and orderly market such as our Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website—the official repository for municipal securities data and documents—and enhancing market transparency by making this information available to the public for free.
- Promoting the integrity of this market by adapting to a rapidly evolving market structure driven by emerging technologies and changing business models.
The year ahead will be an exciting one as MSRB achieves the milestone of 50 years of serving the public interest. As we do so, MSRB’s Board and staff remain evermore dedicated to the mission of protecting and strengthening the market for the bonds that make America stronger. Please follow us on social media for updates.
