Questions about this notice may be directed to the Board's office by calling (202) 223-9347 and requesting help with the transaction reporting setup.

MSRB rule G-14 requires brokers, dealers and municipal securities dealers (dealers) to report to the MSRB their municipal securities transactions with customers each business day, effective January 1, 1998. Dealers also are required to participate in mandatory system testing with the MSRB prior to that time. During the last few months the MSRB has sent a customer transaction reporting form to each firm listed on the MSRB's records. On September 16, 1997, a second request was sent to those dealers not responding to the initial request. If your firm has not responded to either request by returning the form to the MSRB, please do so immediately. The customer transaction reporting form must be received before a firm can begin the mandatory test.

TEST SCHEDULE

Tests with dealers are now underway. MSRB will schedule testing with all dealers and service bureaus who submit customer trade data directly to NSCC. MSRB staff will contact the dealer at least three weeks before the start of testing.

Dealers who have indicated on their forms a plan to submit data to the MSRB by dialing in from their personal computers will receive a User's Manual and other instructions in November.

Dealers whose customer transactions will be reported to the MSRB by an agent (clearing broker or service bureau) will be tested with the agent. A dealer that has ensured that its agent has tested on its behalf has satisfied the testing requirement. If, however, such a firm wishes to conduct more extensive testing, it should contact the MSRB after returning the form.

TEST PREPARATION

To prepare for testing, dealers should review the following documents. Dealers that plan to submit customer trade files to the MSRB via a direct connection with NSCC should implement NSCC's set-up procedures as soon as possible.⁽¹⁾

• "Reporting Customer Transactions to the Board: Rule G-14," MSRB Reports, Vol. 17, No. 1 (January 1997) at 3-8. This notice describes rule G-14 provisions for customer transaction reporting.
• "MSRB Transaction Reporting Program: Questions and Answers," and
• "Data Element and File Specifications for Reporting Customer Transactions," March 1997. These documents were mailed to dealers by MSRB with the customer transaction reporting form mentioned in the text above.

September 29, 1997

1. The following NSCC Important Notices provided the necessary information: "The MSRB's Transaction Reporting Program for Municipal Bond Securities: NSCC Interface Requirements" (April 2, 1997) and "The MSRB's Transaction Reporting Program for Municipal Bond Securities: MSRB Testing with NSCC Interface" (July 9, 1997). These notices are available from NSCC's Web page( www.nscc.com )Important Notices A4618, 7/9/97 and A4571, 4/2/97.