EMMA Submission Accounts for Organizations Acting as Agents

What is a submission agent?
A submission agent is an organization designated to make submissions to the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) system on behalf of one or more dealers, municipal advisors, issuers or obligors. 

Many organizations submitting data and disclosure documents to the MSRB employ intermediaries to perform the actual submission. For example, a dealer may have its SHORT data submitted by another dealer. Or an issuer may have its continuing disclosure documents submitted by a law firm or information services provider. All MSRB programs, except for political contributions disclosures, allow for the use of intermediaries to make submissions.

If you would like to create an agent account, click here.

Can a dealer, municipal advisor, issuer or an obligor act as a submission agent?
Yes. Any organization that can make data and document submissions can also make submissions on behalf of others.

Is a submission agent required to be a dealer, municipal advisor, issuer or an obligor?
No. Any organization that establishes a submission agent organization account in MSRB Gateway can make submissions if the appropriate designations are obtained. MSRB Gateway is the MSRB’s site for establishing and maintaining organization and user accounts. MSRB Gateway is also the single, secure access point for all MSRB Market Information submission services, applications and associated forms.

What does an agent need to do to submit on behalf of another organization?
In most cases, the agent and the designating organization must establish an agent relationship in MSRB Gateway before the agent is permitted to make a submission on behalf of the designating organization. In addition, at the time of submission, the agent will be prompted to identify the organization it is submitting on behalf of.

Do all MSRB programs handle agent submissions the same way?
No. The MSRB’s Real-Time Transaction Reporting (RTRS) program manages agent designations through a form required under Rule A-12, called Form A-12.  The MSRB’s Continuing Disclosure Program only requires designations in certain cases. The MSRB’s Political Contributions Program does not provide for agent submissions. More information about the differences between different market disclosure programs is provided below.

Agent Account Set-Up and Account Management

Do dealers, municipal advisors, issuers or obligors require separate accounts to act as agents?
No. Dealers and municipal advisors are required to register with the MSRB and should use the accounts established during the registration process if they are acting as an agent. Issuers and obligors have a different class of MSRB Gateway account which grants them rights specific to issuers or obligors, but those same accounts can also be used to make submissions on behalf of other organizations.

If I am not a dealer, municipal advisor, issuer or obligor, how can I establish an account?
The process of establishing an agent account may begin in one of two ways. Someone in the agent organization may receive an email request to create an account from MSRB Gateway, initiated by the designating organization. Or an agent can initiate the account creation process online and subsequently extend a request to a designating organization to act as their agent. 

Are fees associated with creating an agent account?
No, there are no fees associated with creating or maintaining an agent account in Gateway.

What information is required during the account set-up process?
Agent organizations creating accounts will be required to provide general information about the organization as well as contact information for the user who will serve as the account administrator. In addition, the agent will be asked to upload two documents. One document will provide your federal tax employer identification number (EIN) and the other will identify the designating organization you will be submitting on behalf of.

Managing Agent Relationships

Why do I need to manage my agent relationships?
Before an agent is permitted to make a submission on behalf of the designating organization, the agent and the designating organization must establish an active agent relationship in MSRB Gateway.

How can I be designated within the MSRB Gateway system?
Either the agent or the designating organization may initiate the designation. For example, a designating organization can cause MSRB Gateway to send an email request to the agent. The agent can log into Gateway and accept or decline the request. Alternatively, the agent can cause a request to be sent to the designating organization, which must then accept or deny the request.

Can I act as agent for multiple designating organizations?
Yes. There is no limit to the number of organizations that can designate you to make submissions on their behalf.

Can I submit to multiple programs on a behalf of a designating organization?
Yes, although each program designation is managed separately. 

Can I designate a specific individual in an organization to act as my agent?
No. Agent relationships are between organizations. For organizations with multiple users, the Account Administrators within that organization have the capability to grant individual users the ability to make the necessary submissions.

Can an agent relationship be severed?
The agent relationship can be severed by either party at any time. No authorization is needed to sever an agent relationship. The impacted parties will be notified of changes via email.

Can agent submission rights be added or removed?
Submission rights can be modified by either party at any time. The agent can remove a submission right or request additional submission rights at any time. The designating organization may do the same. The designating organization can only designate rights that are inherent to their organization.

What happens if I have an agent relationship, or a pending relationship with an organization that converts from a continuing disclosure account to an organization account or is consolidated into an organization account?
All agent relationships (established and pending) will transfer from the continuing disclosure account to the organization account. The Master Account Administrator of the organization account inherits the responsibility to manage any agent relationship and may also grant other users in the organization the ability to make agent submissions. Affected agents will be notified via email of the changes regarding their agent relationships.

Agent Designation Submission Process    

The following chart provides information about the agent designation process operates for specific submissions.

*For SEC Rule 15c2-12 disclosures and voluntary document disclosures, agents are permitted to make submissions without first being designated by the issuer or obligor for whom they are making a submission. However, issuers have the ability to identify their securities and elect to control those securities.  Once an issuer has elected control, only designated agents may make submissions to those securities.

**Requires an organization account.

Additional Information

Refer to the Gateway Manual for Issuers, Obligated Persons, and Agents to read more about creating and maintaining your agent account and managing agent relationships.

You may also contact MSRB Support at 202-838-1330.