MSRB to discuss rate card filing at upcoming board meeting

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is set to hold its second quarterly board meeting of FY 2024 on Jan. 24-25, and there members will discuss the comments they received as part of the 2024 rate card filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The board will also mull questions over whether to modernize Rule G-27 on dealer supervision and update Rule G-12 on uniform practices.

The board received harsh criticism for its switch to a new rate card model to that the MSRB said would help it better respond to market pressures and adjust yearly rates accordingly. Broker dealer and municipal advisor groups complained of what they saw as a lack of transparency, vague budget commitments and a distorted process that sets spending plans before revenue for those targets has been met.

The upcoming meeting will also consider modernizing MSRB Rule G-27 on dealer supervision, "to reflect changing work patterns since the COVID-19 pandemic and to further harmonize MSRB dealer supervision requirements with FINRA supervisory rules," the MSRB said.

The board will also receive an update on its request for comment on Rule G-12 on uniform practices and the one comment it received, submitted by Leslie Norwood, managing director, associate general counsel and head of municipal securities at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

The proposal, which deals with the subsection of Rule G-12 on inter-dealer confirmations, seeks to simplify existing guidance, retire others and merge much of it into Rule G-15 on dealer confirmations. Norwood argued that the proposal should go farther and eliminate the subsection altogether.

The MSRB will also discuss a potential pre-trade market transparency initiative, which is expected sometime early this year. That's the final prong of its multi-year look at pre-trade, time of trade, and post-trade transparency.