MSRB to bolster ESG research efforts with visiting Harvard scholar

Lourdes Germán, a lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and executive director of the Public Finance Initiative, will join the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board as a visiting scholar to help research environmental, social and governance trends in public finance.

“I am looking forward to leveraging the MSRB’s data and in-house experts to advance my research into the issuance of ESG-designated municipal securities as well as the impact of ESG labels on secondary market pricing,” Germán said.

MSRB staff welcomed the addition of Germán to the board’s roster.

“The MSRB is thrilled to welcome Lourdes, who is such a distinguished public finance thought leader, as our next visiting scholar,” MSRB Chief Executive Officer Mark Kim said. “The MSRB’s Visiting Scholar Program provides a valuable opportunity for academics and regulators to work together to contribute knowledge and understanding of emerging trends in public finance.”

German will join Kim to discuss the use of data for ESG efforts on a live Bond Buyer Leaders session Thursday.

Germán will be using the firm’s EMMA Labs platform, launched at the top of this year, to take a closer look at how money is being raised for ESG projects.

“I am very excited about the potential for the prototypes now being tested in EMMA Labs to open up new avenues for research inquiry,” Germán said. “With the advanced search prototype, the MSRB has unlocked the rich data within the PDF disclosures submitted by state and local governments to EMMA. Using a simple keyword search, I can explore how municipalities are tapping into the municipal bond market to raise money for projects that have specified ESG outcomes.”

Germán began her career as a public finance attorney for what is now Locke Lord LLP and focused on investment banking efforts in the Northeast and Tri-State region as vice president of municipal finance for Fidelity Investments.

She is the second academic to participate in the Visiting Scholar Program after Christine Cuny, who used her time with the board to look at the mark-up disclosure rule on trading patterns and trading costs. 

The program was launched in 2018 to help aid selected academics conduct in-depth analyses on municipal market data. 

The addition of Germán to the board’s visiting scholar program deepens their efforts on ESG after its request for information was met with some pushback from market participants who said it was overstepping its Congressional mandate.

The MSRB said it will deliver a comprehensive summary in July of the comments it received as part of its request for information on ESG considerations in the muni market.