Fee Change for Historical Transaction Data Product

On April 27, 2011, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB” or “Board”) filed for immediate effectiveness with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC” or “Commission”)[1] a proposed rule change to amend the fee charged for the Historical Transaction Data Reports (“Historical Data Product”).  The fee for a one calendar year data set of historical municipal securities transaction data will be increased from $600 to $2,500.  Historical transaction data must be purchased in one calendar year data sets; no smaller data sets will be offered.  Additionally, the MSRB will charge a one-time set-up fee of $2,000 to new purchasers of the historical transaction data.  This set-up fee will not be charged to any prior purchaser of the Historical Data Product or any current subscriber to an MSRB Subscription Service, including the MSRB Real-Time Transaction Data Subscription Service, Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service, Short-Term Obligation Rate Transparency Subscription Service, Primary Market Disclosure Subscription Service, or Continuing Disclosure Subscription Service.[2]  The fee change is effective immediately.

The purpose of the proposed rule change is to align the MSRB’s Historical Data Product charges with other fees established by the MSRB, and to partially offset the cost of operating and maintaining the MSRB’s Market Information Transparency Programs and the MSRB Real-Time Transaction Reporting System. Since the Historical Data Product was first approved by the SEC in 2004,[3] the MSRB has not increased the fee for the product.  It has remained at a nominal level for over six years.  The MSRB currently charges an annual fee of $10,000 for a subscription to the MSRB Real-Time Transaction Data Subscription Service, and an annual fee of $5,000 for a subscription to delayed transaction service, the MSRB Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service, which includes three delayed transaction reports – the T+1 Report, T+5 Report, and T+20 Report.

The transaction information provided in the Historical Data Product for all trades in a single calendar year is the same as that currently provided in the MSRB’s day-by-day Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service, including the trade date, the CUSIP number of the issue traded, a short description of the issue, the size of the transaction (including the exact par amount reported to the MSRB on transaction amounts greater than one million dollars), the time of trade as reported by the dealer, the price of the transaction, the dealer-reported yield (if any), and a designation as to whether the transaction is a sale by a dealer to a customer, a purchase from a customer, or an inter-dealer trade.  The same information provided through the Historical Data Product will remain available to the public for free on the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access (“EMMA”) web portal. The Historical Data Product will continue to be provided on CD-ROM[4] pursuant to the terms of the purchase agreement.[5]

The text of the proposed rule change is set forth below, with underlining indicating additions.  Questions about this notice should be directed to Lawrence P. Sandor, Senior Associate General Counsel, at 703-797-6600.

April 27, 2011

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FACILITY FOR REAL-TIME TRANSACTION REPORTING AND PRICE

DISSEMINATION (THE “REAL-TIME TRANSACTION REPORTING

SYSTEM” OR “RTRS”)

 

RTRS Facility

No change.

Price Dissemination by RTRS

No change.

MSRB Real-Time Transaction Data Subscription Service

No change.

MSRB Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service

No change.

MSRB Historical Transaction Data Product

In addition to offering the Real-Time and Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Services, RTRS offers a Historical Data Product, which consists of the same transaction information as is provided by the Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service.  The Historical Transaction Data may be purchased in one calendar year data sets for $2,500 per calendar year.  No smaller data sets will be available.  The Historical Transaction Data will be made available to purchasers on CD-ROM[1], pursuant to the terms of the Historical Transaction Data Purchase Agreement, which must be executed by purchasers prior to delivery of the Historical Data Product.[2]  A one-time set-up fee of $2,000 will be charged to new purchasers of the Historical Data Product, unless the purchaser is a current subscriber to an MSRB Subscription Service, including the MSRB Real-Time Transaction Data Subscription Service, Comprehensive Transaction Data Subscription Service, Short-Term Obligation Rate Transparency Subscription Service, Primary Market Disclosure Subscription Service, or Continuing Disclosure Subscription Service.[3]

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[1] As technology evolves, or if the volume of information included in the Historical Data Product increases, the MSRB may in the future decide to use a different medium for delivering the Historical Data Product.

[2] Purchasers are subject to all of the terms of the purchase agreement to be entered into between the MSRB and each purchaser, including proprietary and intellectual property rights of third parties in information provided by such third parties that is made available through the product.

[3] The MSRB could, in its discretion and consistent with the stated policy for certain other subscription services offered by the MSRB, waive the Historical Data Product set-up fee for not-for-profit organizations, academic institutions, or other entities or persons who desire the service for non-profit or research purposes.