Potential changes to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's rate card and feedback received on a municipal fund securities concept release were among regulatory matters discussed at the MSRB's quarterly board meeting.
The meeting, held on April 23 and April 24, marked the MSRB board of directors' third quarterly meeting of fiscal year 2025. The MSRB, a self-regulatory organization, is the municipal securities market's principal regulator.
"We appreciate the robust stakeholder engagement and response to our requests for feedback on both the rate card and municipal fund securities concept release and look forward to ongoing dialogue with the industry and moving both initiatives forward with the benefit of the public comments we received," MSRB Board Chair Bo Daniels said in a press release issued following the meeting.
Last October, the MSRB issued a
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 authorizes the MSRB to assess dealers and municipal advisors reasonable fees and charges necessary or appropriate to defray the costs and expenses of operating and administering the organization.
Discussion at the meeting also included an initial evaluation of comments received from market participants on the concept release the MSRB published last December in which it requested comment on possible initiatives to
Examples of municipal fund securities include investments in certain 529 savings plans, ABLE programs for qualified disability expenses and local government investment pools, known as LGIPs for short.
With regard to market infrastructure rules, the board discussed identifying areas within the MSRB rulebook that could provide opportunities for removing roadblocks to technological and product innovation in the municipal market and where the MSRB "could benefit from future extensive stakeholder feedback on modernization," the press release said.
Also during the meeting, the board approved additional technical amendments relating to MSRB Rule A-12. At its quarterly meeting last October, the board approved the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of an amendment to Rule A-12 to enhance the collection of information relating to associated persons of bank dealers of municipal securities.
The technical amendments approved during the board's meeting correct cross-references between MSRB Rules A-12 and G-14 where the appropriate subsections had been misnumbered.
Also during the meeting, the board received an update regarding the modernization of the EMMA website and discussed feedback received from among the more than 100 industry stakeholders who were invited to take part in the first round of beta testing, the MSRB's release said.
In addition, the board also received an update regarding current MSRB research and the ongoing policy discussions regarding the tax exemption of municipal bonds, the release said.
