The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 expanded the MSRB’s jurisdiction to include the regulation of municipal advisors.
The Dodd-Frank Act requires all municipal advisors, broadly defined as including financial advisors, guaranteed investment contract brokers, third-party marketers, placement agents, solicitors finders and certain swap advisors that provide municipal advisory services, to be registered both with the MSRB and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A list of MSRB-registered municipal advisors is available here.
The SEC has a temporary registration rule in place until September 30, 2013 for municipal advisors as it finalizes its interpretation of who qualifies as a “municipal advisor” under Dodd-Frank. Read the MSRB's letter to the SEC on proposed rules for the registration of municipal advisors.
The MSRB has provided to the SEC information on municipal advisory activities to assist the agency as it finalizes its municipal advisor definition. Read the MSRB's letter to the SEC on municipal advisory services.
The MSRB has also provided Congressional testimony on the potential effects of legislative proposals to limit the definition of municipal advisor.
The MSRB has proposed a series of rules that would govern the activities, conduct and professional qualifications of municipal advisors. However, these rules have been delayed pending the SEC’s final interpretation of the term “municipal advisor.”
Once the SEC reaches a decision on the definition of municipal advisor, the MSRB rule proposals will be amended if necessary and resubmitted to the SEC for final approval.