On September 20th, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) received SEC approval for amendments to MSRB Rule G-14 on reports of sales or purchases. The new rule shortens the amount of time by which brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers are required to report most transactions to the MSRB. Initially proposed in January 2024, this rule is intended to increase public interest in the municipal securities market by enhancing the market’s transparency. The amendments reflect substantial revisions made to the trade reporting standard and allow investors and other market participants to have access to more real-time prices.
The SEC-approved amendments will implement the following:
- require that, with limited exceptions, trades be reported as soon as practicable, but no later than one minute after the time of trade and that dealers adopt policies and procedures in connection with this requirement
- require dealers reporting any trade with a manual component to use a new special condition indicator when the trade is reported to the MSRB
- define within Rule G-14 the usage of all previously established and new special condition indicators
- specify that dealers may not purposely delay the execution or reporting of a transaction, introduce any manual steps following the Time of Trade, or modify any steps to execute or report the trade using the exception for trades with a manual component
- determine that it would be considered a rule violation if there is a pattern or practice of late trade reporting without exceptional circumstances or reasonable justification
The changes are subject to certain exceptions, including new exceptions for manual trades and firms with limited trading activity. The rules create these two new intra-day exceptions to the one-minute reporting requirement:
- one 15-minute exception for dealers with limited trading activity
- one phased-in exception for trades with a manual component that gradually shortens the reporting deadline from 15 minutes to an eventual five-minute reporting requirement
The public may access trades reported to MSRB's Real-time Transaction Reporting System (RTRS) via the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website. This resource provides investors, dealers, municipal advisors and other market participants with decision-useful information about the pricing of municipal securities.
For more information, please see the related MSRB Notice and Approval Order. The MSRB will announce the effective date of the rule change in a future MSRB notice.
Source:
SEC Approves Amendments to MSRB Rule G-14 to Shorten Timeframe for Reporting Transactions in Municipal Securities (msrb.org)