The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's quarterly board meeting included discussion regarding the launch of a "holistic review" of MSRB's municipal advisor rules, MSRB CEO Mark Kim confirmed.
The meeting, which was held on Wednesday and Thursday, was the board of directors' second quarterly meeting of MSRB's 2025 fiscal year.
It's been "10 years or so since we implemented our first MA rule, and that body of regulation is now essentially complete," Kim said, adding that the MSRB believes that "it's an appropriate time for the MSRB to launch a holistic review."
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis, "expanded the MSRB's statutory authority to include the regulation of municipal advisors," Kim said in a telephone interview Thursday.
"So that was the first time that municipal advisors had been subject to regulation," the MSRB CEO said.
Markets change and rules need to change as well in order to remain relevant and achieve their intended impact, he said, referencing similar sentiments expressed earlier in the call by MSRB Board Chair Bo Daniels.
"And so this is an appropriate time we feel to step back and take a look at 10 years of regulating municipal advisors," Kim said.
The MSRB received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission in October 2014 to adopt MSRB Rule G-44, "its first dedicated rule for municipal advisors," a 2014 MSRB notice shows.
Also at the meeting, the board discussed potential revisions to MSRB Rule G-32, which relates to disclosures in connection with primary offerings. Revisions are being considered in order to "streamline the submission process for dealers and to clarify and modernize the rule and improve the effectiveness of making the existing primary market disclosures available through EMMA," Daniels said, referring to the MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market Access website.
The board also discussed a retrospective rule review of MSRB Rule G-27, "which is our on-going review of dealer supervision and remote work and our engagement with (the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) and the SEC on various provisions under the rule," he said.
"With G-27, we think the key there is being flexible relative to a changing market dynamic," Daniels said, adding that "how we conduct our business changed dramatically after the pandemic and what we want to be able to do is be responsive to those in our industry and at the same time promote an efficient and effective workplace."
In addition to those regulatory topics, the board also discussed market structure and market transparency initiatives, MSRB's Jan. 31 press release said.
With regard to market structure, the board was provided with an overview of
As for market transparency, the board was given an update on the
"The newly redesigned EMMA, featuring enhanced functionality and stakeholder-driven improvements, is expected to launch before the end of 2025," the MSRB's release said.
