MSRB Monthly Update - July 2012

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board sent this bulletin at 07/13/2012 09:20 AM EDT

The MSRB and the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission are co-hosting an education and outreach seminar for municipal market professionals on Tuesday, July 24, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The last day to register for the event is Friday, July 13, 2012.

The municipal securities market has featured real-time price transparency since 2005. The MSRB's EMMA® website continues to provide this transparency to the market.

Highlight of the Month

The MSRB recently established requirements that will strengthen the effectiveness of broker's brokers in playing their crucial role of providing liquidity for retail-sized trades in the municipal securities market. The MSRB has also provided interpretive guidance to dealers that transact through broker's brokers to help dealers more effectively use their services for the benefit of dealers’ customers.

The new regulations are effective December 22, 2012. Read more.

New and Noteworthy

Educational materials on the upcoming changes to MSRB Rule G-17 on the duties of underwriters to state and local governments are available on the MSRB's website. The materials include a four-part recorded webinar and associated PowerPoint presentations.

Access the educational materials.

EMMA® Market Statistics

Number of Trades Down, Par Value Steady

Trading activity in the first six months of 2012 totaled $1.42 trillion, down 1.5 percent from the $1.44 trillion traded in the same period of 2011. The number of trades decreased 10.3 percent to 4.91 million trades in the first half of 2012, compared to 5.48 million trades in the first half of 2011. In terms of par traded, customer purchases accounted for 47.7 percent, customer sales accounted for 31.6 percent and inter-dealer trades accounted for 20.7 percent in the first six months of 2012.

For more information or other statistics on municipal trading activity, continuing disclosures or variable rate resets, visit the MSRB’s EMMA website.

Regulatory Roundup

MSRB Reminds Dealers of New Definition of Sophisticated Municipal Market Professional and Changes in Applicability of MSRB Rules to Such Market Participants (July 9, 2012)

MSRB Requests Comment on Proposal to Limit Dealers from Providing Consents on Behalf of Bondholders (July 5, 2012)

MSRB Seeks Approval of Rule Change to Improve Price Transparency for "Not Reoffered" Municipal Securities

(June 28, 2012)

MSRB Receives SEC Approval to Implement Measures to Strengthen Regulation of Brokers' Brokers (June 25, 2012)

EMMA Primary Market, Continuing Disclosure and SHORT System Historical Products Now Available (June 18, 2012)

Reminder of June 16, 2012 Effective Date Regarding Amendments to MSRB Rule G-9 on Preservation of Records (June 15, 2012)

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