Requirements of Rule G-29, on Availability of Board Rules

Requirements of Rule G-29, on Availability of Board Rules

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Manager
Manager, Muni Department
Compliance

Notice

The Board reminds dealers of their responsibilities under rule G-29 to keep a copy of all rules of the Board and to make them available to customers upon request.

Questions about this notice may be directed to Ronald W. Smith, Senior Legal Associate.

Rule G-29, on availability of Board rules, requires dealers to keep a copy of all rules of the Board as from time to time in effect and to make such rules available for examination by customers promptly upon request. The Board's rules must be kept in each office in which any activities of a municipal securities representative are conducted (e.g., underwriting, trading or sales of municipal securities).

Dealers can meet the requirements of rule G-29 by a number of different means. The Board provides dealers with a copy of the soft-cover version of the MSRB Manual, which contains the Board's rules, at no charge when it is printed twice a year. Additional copies of the soft-cover version are available from the Board at $14.00 each. Dealers can order the loose-leaf version of the Manual directly from CCH Incorporated. Dealers can also meet the requirements of the rule by having Internet access in their offices to the Board's rules at its Web site or by using software products produced by other companies which contain the Board's rules. Regardless of the method used to ensure that a copy of the rules is available at each office, customers must be given access to such copies, whether in printed form or by viewing on screen.

In connection with rule G-29, the Board reminds dealers that rule G-27, on supervision, requires each dealer to supervise the conduct of its municipal securities business and the municipal securities activities of its associated persons to ensure compliance with Board rules. Dealers should review their supervisory procedures to ensure that they have procedures in place for making the Board's rules available and accessible to customers upon request in each office that engages in municipal securities activities. In addition, the supervisory procedures should address how the dealer will provide its offices with the most current version of the rules once they are in effect so that its securities professionals are alerted to new developments. A dealer may establish a procedure to obtain information about current rule amendments from notices posted on the Board's Web site or from notices published in MSRB Reports.