On December 7, 2020, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), which is responsible for safeguarding the integrity of the roughly $4 trillion municipal securities market, released a statement requesting public comment on its upcoming strategic goals and priorities. Overseen by the SEC and Congress, the MSRB is an independent self-regulatory organization with a statutory mission to protect investors, municipal entities, obligated persons, and the public interest in the municipal securities market. The organization is tasked with promoting a fair and efficient municipal securities environment, a mission fulfilled by adopting rules for municipal securities dealers and municipal advisors; supporting market transparency through the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website and other market transparency systems; and serving as the official source for municipal securities data and disclosure documents. The SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and bank regulators conduct examination and enforcement activities related to MSRB rules.
To meet the needs of the rapidly evolving municipal securities market, the MSRB has implemented some significant governance enhancements and made strides toward modernizing its rule book and information systems during the last year. Included in these efforts is the modernization of MSRB rules and guidance centering around an ongoing retrospective rule review that has evaluated how MSRB rules effectively protect investors and issuers without imposing unnecessary costs and burdens on regulated entities. To further its goal of modernizing its information systems, the MSRB has shifted its EMMA and related market transparency systems to operate in the cloud. This cloud migration will allow the MSRB to pursue cloud-based tools and big data initiatives while continuing to provide resources and information to market participants and policymakers.
As part of its operation, the MSRB also performs strategic planning exercises every three to five years in an effort to reassess the long-term direction of the organization. The most recent strategic planning process began in October 2020 by retaining a firm to aid in collecting stakeholder feedback, facilitating workshops, and developing a new vision and mission statement conveying the organization’s strategic goals and priorities for the future. Stakeholders are invited to offer their perspectives the MSRB’s effectiveness in fulfilling its Congressional mandate to develop rules and information systems that support a fair and efficient municipal market, as well as its activities as the industry’s central repository for data. The MSRB is seeking input ways to improve its effectiveness, address emerging and evolving market risks, and better serve the municipal market of today and tomorrow.
Given the MSRB’s priorities regarding regulation, technology and data, the organization seeks public comment concerning the following questions:
- What important trends or developments may be upcoming in the municipal securities market?
- How effective has the MSRB been in advancing its mission?
- How can the MSRB modernize its rulemaking process to ensure guidance remains relevant to the current market?
- How can modernization of EMMA and related technology systems best support users? What gaps should be addressed to enhance market transparency?
- How can the MSRB further implement cloud solutions to improve the availability of data to investors and other market participants?
- What are the most pressing knowledge and information gaps in the municipal market? How should the MSRB focus its educational efforts to provide value and impact for today’s markets?
When providing feedback, the MSRB encourages commenters to be as specific as possible and provide relevant data and information. Note that comments are generally posted unaltered, so identifying information should not be included. Comments should be submitted no later than January 11, 2021 and may be submitted in electronic or paper form. Comments submitted in paper form should be sent to Ronald W. Smith, Corporate Secretary, Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, 1300 I Street NW, Suite 1000, Washington, DC 20005. All comments will be available for public inspection on the MSRB’s website.
Sources:
MSRB Requests Input on Strategic Goals and Priorities (msrb.org)
