Contact: Jennifer A. Galloway, Chief Communications Officer
202-838-1500
jgalloway@msrb.org
MSRB UPDATES CONGRESS ON COMPLETION OF CORE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR MUNICIPAL ADVISORS
Washington, DC – In a letter to Congress on the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) describes the completion of its core regulatory framework for municipal advisors and the complementary education and transparency initiatives aimed at protecting municipal entities.
“The MSRB has made rapid progress and transparent progress since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act in developing new rules that ensure that all regulated professionals operating in the municipal market conduct their work with integrity, fairness and transparency,” MSRB Board Chair Nat Singer said in the letter, addressed to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services. “New rules guard against unfair practices by municipal advisors and work to ensure that the professionals advising our state and local governments are qualified and are appropriately trained, licensed and educated,” Singer wrote.
Among the MSRB’s foundational rules for municipal advisors are Rule G-42, establishing core standards of conduct; Rule G-3, creating professional qualifications for municipal advisors; Rule-G-44 on supervision and compliance; and Rules G-20 and G-37, which target pay-to-play practices in municipal advisory business. The MSRB has also implemented the first professional qualifying examination for municipal advisor representatives.
To support the MSRB’s expanded mandate under the Dodd-Frank Act to protect municipal entities, the MSRB has advanced new education and outreach initiatives and developed additional market transparency tools on its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website.
“The MSRB believes that inherent in our responsibility to adopt regulations and promote municipal market transparency is the responsibility to educate market participants on the progress and effect of these efforts,” Singer said in the letter.
