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 Input from municipal market participants is essential to helping the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) fulfill our mission to promote a fair and efficient municipal securities market. As a self-regulatory organization, our Board of Directors is representative of the diversity of issuers, investors and municipal market professionals in our $3.8 trillion market. Outreach to stakeholders further informs MSRB initiatives. Issuers have many opportunities to tell us how we are doing – and how we can do better.
The MSRB engages in an extensive notice and comment process with virtually all its rulemaking initiatives, as well as long-term strategic priorities and other market topics. Public requests for comment ensure all municipal market stakeholders have an opportunity to submit feedback and provide data, expertise and insight that helps shape the policy direction of the organization. Often, a single proposal presents several opportunities for public input, from a preliminary concept proposal to a request for comment on a formal proposal to an additional round of public comment when the proposal is submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval. Frequently, the MSRB holds one-on-one meetings with commenters to understand their perspectives more fully and will publicly respond to or address issues raised by commenters.
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 Recognizing that many municipal market stakeholders are unable to travel to the MSRB offices in Washington, DC, the MSRB regularly participates in municipal market conferences around the country to facilitate dialogue with municipal market participants. The MSRB routinely provides free live and on-demand educational and training webinars on regulatory and compliance issues, and the use of MSRB market transparency systems. These webinars include question-and-answer periods allowing participants to directly seek clarification from MSRB staff.
In addition, the MSRB develops online resources including interpretive guidance, FAQs and educational materials available on the MSRB’s website. The MSRB’s online Education Center provides extensive resources geared toward issuers and investors, including MuniEdPro®, a unique interactive suite of online courses. Of these online courses, the MSRB has designed a complimentary course specifically for issuers, entitled “Being an Informed Municipal Bond Issuer.” Other courses are available for a nominal fee or by subscription.
An online comment form also allows the MSRB to capture input about its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website to continually improve this important source of municipal market data and information. From time to time, the MSRB proactively solicits feedback from EMMA users through focus groups and online user satisfaction surveys.
If you have suggestions, questions or need guidance, contact the MSRB at 202-838-1330 or MSRBSupport@msrb.org. We provide live telephone customer support on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) and email help from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET. MSRB Support is equipped to answer a broad range of questions and can connect stakeholders to the appropriate subject-matter experts.
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 The MSRB is hosting three Town Hall meetings in 2018 that will give
municipal market participants the opportunity to discuss the future of the
MSRB. Each meeting will be exclusively in person, and is intended to
support the municipal market community by creating a forum to communicate
concerns and capture ideas to inform the MSRB's future activity. All are
welcome and there is no cost to attend. Details and registration information
for each Town Hall meeting is listed below.
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MSRB
Arizona Town Hall
Hosted in coordination with the National Association
of Bond Lawyers 16th Annual Tax & Securities Law Institute
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. MT
JW Marriott Desert Ridge, Stonegrill
5350 E. Marriott Drive
Phoenix, AZ 85054
Register to
attend.
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MSRB
California Town Hall
Hosted in coordination with the National Association
of Municipal Advisors
Thursday, February 22,
2018
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. PT
Newport Beach Marriott Hotel
900 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
Register to
attend.
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MSRB Chicago Town Hall
Hosted in coordination with the Municipal Bond Club of Chicago
Thursday, May 17, 2018
4:00 p.m. –
6:00 p.m. CT
JW Marriott Chicago
151 West Adams Street
Chicago, IL 60603
Register to attend.
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With the December 2017 passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, tax-exempt advance refundings are no longer an option for state and local government borrowers seeking to manage interest rate costs. This is a significant change for the municipal market. Some issuers may consider forward refundings or synthetic refundings to recreate the benefits of tax-exempt advance refunding. These and other financial products may pose additional and different risks for state and local governments. When working with municipal advisors and municipal securities dealers regarding complex transactions, issuers may wish to read up on the regulatory protections in place. These include:
Issuers considering the use of swaps or other financial products may also
want to refer to an advisory from the Government Financial Officers
Association on the Use of
Debt-Related Derivatives Products.
The new tax law also contained another change relevant to municipal issuers with the expansion of 529 savings plans to cover costs associated with tuition for private elementary and secondary education. The MSRB offers up-to-date investor education resources about 529 plans in its online Education Center.
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MuniEdPro® Courses for Issuers
Become a
more informed bond issuer with this curated slate of online courses from the
MSRB:
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Complimentary Course: Being an Informed Municipal Bond Issuer
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The Decision to Borrow: Roles and Responsibilities of Market Participants in Fixed Rate Primary Market Offerings
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Due Diligence: Primary Offering Disclosure Responsibilities
Other Educational Resources
The MSRB maintains an extensive multimedia library of information for state and local governments that issue municipal bonds or anyone interested in learning about the municipal securities market. Download these free and objective resources from the MSRB's online Education Center.
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Municipal bond trading surged in December 2017 to highest levels since 2010. Issuance also rose to $66 billion. Gain a deeper understanding of municipal market activity in your state with enhanced daily statistics available on the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website. EMMA’s market-wide statistics provide a state-by-state view of municipal bond trading activity and the most actively traded municipal securities and bond issuers. The data presentation is dynamic, allowing users to customize their results based on date range, geographic location, tax status of bonds and type of transaction.
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It's Your Deal is a quarterly resource guide published by the MSRB to provide objective and useful information to state and local governments that issue municipal bonds. As part of its mission to protect municipal bond issuers, the MSRB regulates municipal advisors and municipal securities dealers, operates the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website, and offers free educational resources in the MSRB Education Center.
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