Contact: Jennifer A. Galloway, Chief Communications Officer
202-838-1500
jgalloway@msrb.org
MSRB PUBLISHES 2018 ANNUAL REPORT AND AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Washington, DC – As the self-regulatory organization (SRO) responsible for safeguarding the $3.9 trillion capital market that helps fund crucial infrastructure and other public projects, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) each year publishes an annual report highlighting the previous year’s initiatives in support of a fair and efficient municipal securities market.
The MSRB’s 2018 annual report details the organization’s regulatory and strategic initiatives last year, which included expanding compliance support for municipal securities dealers and municipal advisors, improving the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website for investors and leveraging the MSRB’s role as an SRO to promote public knowledge of the municipal securities market.
“Last year, the MSRB’s activities supported new, multi-year strategic goals that were established as a result of feedback the organization gathered from key stakeholders,” said Gary Hall, Chair of the MSRB Board of Directors. “In 2018, the organization started operationalizing these goals and made significant strides while at the same time responsibly managing MSRB finances.”
As part of its regulatory responsibilities, in 2018, the MSRB continued development of the regulatory framework for municipal advisors, including the creation of new MSRB Rule G-40, on advertising for municipal advisors, which will go into effect in 2019. Last year, the MSRB also led an ongoing retrospective review of several of its rules, including rules for dealers on primary offering practices, discretionary accounts, advertising and required disclosures to municipal entities.
In 2018, enhancements to the EMMA website focused on improving the user experience for investors and adding new interactive tools and resources and two new callable yield curves.
The annual report also includes audited annual financial statements for the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2018 and help ensure transparency around how the organization manages its resources and financial reserves. “In 2018, the organization focused on three key financial initiatives,” said MSRB President and CEO Lynnette Kelly. “We diversified revenue sources, examined ways to effectively manage financial reserves and began exploring a migration to the cloud as the organization plans for its future infrastructure.”
