The summer edition of MSRB Update provides several highlights from MSRB's final quarterly Board meeting of FY2026, including the election of MSRB Board leadership and members, the FY2027 budget approval, and regulatory modernization and market transparency initiatives, among other news.
Announcing MSRB’s New Board Chair, Vice Chair and Board Members
Message from Mark Kim, CEO
I am pleased to announce the election of Alexander Chilton, Managing Director, Head of Municipal Securities at Morgan Stanley, as our incoming Board Chair for FY2027 and Pamela M. Frederick, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the Battery Park City Authority in New York, NY as our incoming Vice Chair. Having worked alongside both over the past three years, I look forward to collaborating with them more closely as they take on these leadership roles on October 1 with the start of the new fiscal year. I want to express my deep appreciation and gratitude for our outgoing Chair Natasha A. Holiday and Vice Chair Wendell G. Gaertner for their outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing the public interest in a fair and efficient municipal securities market.
I’m also pleased to announce the election of four new Board members, whose four-year terms begin October 1:
- Jonathan Fiebach, former CEO of Ficc.ai Corp.
- David Womack, Deputy Director, Financing Policy and Coordination and NYC Office of Management and Budget
- Elizabeth Coolidge, Head of Public Finance, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
- Jeff White, Managing Member, Columbia Capital Management, LLC
In addition, Vivian Altman, Head of Northeast Banking at Huntington Capital, will return to the Board for a three-year term beginning on October 1.
Read the press release to learn more about MSRB’s incoming Board members.
MSRB Board Approves FY2027 Budget
Also during the Board meeting, MSRB's Board approved a $48.0 million budget for FY2027, a 3.7% increase compared to the previous year and relatively flat accounting for inflation. MSRB Board members and staff worked through a comprehensive process to develop the budget, which supports the FY 2026-2030 strategic plan.
As part of its commitment to financial transparency, MSRB held conversations with stakeholders in April to review the FY2026 fiscal year to date budget to actual revenues and expenses, as well as to preview the draft budget for FY2027. MSRB subsequently met with stakeholders in June to provide a more detailed overview of the draft FY2027 budget, soliciting feedback prior to Finance Committee approval, and ultimately, Board approval of the budget.
A more detailed budget summary, with projected expenses, revenues and reserve levels, will be published in October at the beginning of the 2027 fiscal year.
In addition, the Board reviewed regulatory modernization and market transparency initiatives at its quarterly meeting, including:
- Rule G-27: Potential next steps on MSRB dealer supervision initiatives
- Rule G-11: Updates on ongoing stakeholder engagement surrounding open contractual commitments in underwriting syndicates and potential next steps
- Rule G-37: A primer on the history, purpose and operation of the rule
- Updates on the forthcoming modernized Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website
- Updates on market infrastructure rules as they relate to potential adoption by market participants of tokenized municipal securities.
Additionally, prior to the Board meeting, the Board and MSRB’s Technology Advisory Group held an education session on decentralized finance and digital assets.
Read the press release for more information.
MSRB Advances Modernization of its Dealer Supervision Rule
MSRB filed amendments to MSRB Rule G-27 on dealer supervision with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following MSRB’s final quarterly Board meeting of FY2026. The amendments propose to clarify the meaning of the term “structuring of public offerings or private placements” and extend the annual business day exclusion for non-primary residences from the branch office definition from the current 30 business days to 90 business days.
MSRB Publishes Midyear 2026 Municipal Market Summary Report and Webinar
In July, MSRB released its Midyear 2026 Municipal Market Summary report and held a webinar with MSRB Chief Market Structure Officer John Bagley. The report and accompanying webinar analyze key developments in the municipal securities market during the first half of 2026 and highlight emerging trends for market participants to watch.
Visit the Midyear 2026 Municipal Market Summary webpage to read the report, watch the webinar on demand and download the webinar’s slides.
See all MSRB data and research
MSRB Introduces Series 50 Sample Exam
MSRB has released a free sample exam to help candidates prepare for its Municipal Advisor Representative Examination, also known as the Series 50 exam. The sample exam was developed in response to an MSRB municipal advisor focus group, which included a discussion of candidates’ exam experiences and how MSRB could better support their preparation. The sample exam features 33 multiple-choice questions that are similar in format, content and level of difficulty to those on the 100-question Series 50 exam.
Take the free sample exam to help prepare for the Series 50 exam.
Visit MSRB’s Series 50 exam page for more information about the exam, including frequently asked questions and the exam content outline.
MSRB Hosts Muni Finance Days
In July, MSRB hosted two Muni Finance Day events – one in partnership with the Chicago Summer Business Institute (CSBI), a program for Chicago high school students, and another with the Urban Leadership Fellows Program (ULF), a paid summer internship program for graduating high school students in New York City. The events gave the students an opportunity to hear from municipal securities industry leaders, a member of Congress and Capitol Hill staff about their career journeys.
Learn more about Muni Finance Day with CSBI.
Learn more about Muni Finance Day with ULF.
More MSRB News
- Visit the MSRB.org Regulation and Compliance page to stay up to date with the latest requests for comment, proposed rule changes, rule approval notices and market advisories.
- The Compliance Resources page has information to help regulated entities understand and comply with MSRB rules.
- See more news about how MSRB is protecting investors, issuers and the public interest on the press releases page.
