Aleis Stokes, Chief External Relations Officer
202-838-1500
astokes@msrb.org
MSRB Amends Rule G-20 to Increase Gift Limit Consistent with Recent FINRA Amendments
Washington, D.C. – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission a proposed rule change to MSRB Rule G-20. The filing revises the MSRB’s gift and gratuities requirements for dealers and municipal advisors and makes technical amendments to enhance the clarity of the rule. The rule change is designed to coordinate MSRB’s gift rule requirements with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) amendments to its own gift rule (FINRA Rule 3220) as part of MSRB’s ongoing rule harmonization efforts.
More specifically, MSRB’s rule change increases the gift and non-cash compensation dollar limit from $100 to $300 per person per year, updating the rule originally adopted in the late 1970s. In addition, the rule change addresses how gifts incidental to normal business dealings should be treated, revises valuation and aggregation requirements, and creates additional supervision and recordkeeping requirements.
“An important part of MSRB’s commitment to regulatory modernization is to ensure our rules are consistent with other regulatory frameworks and eliminate unnecessary compliance burdens where possible,” said MSRB Chief Regulatory and Policy Officer, Ernesto Lanza. “By harmonizing our gift rule with FINRA’s amended gift rule, MSRB aims for consistency in the application of MSRB and FINRA rules among dealers that are FINRA members.”
MSRB’s rule change was filed for immediate effectiveness with an operative date of June 1, 2026, for dealers that are FINRA members. A separate compliance date of December 1, 2026, applies to all municipal advisors as well as dealers that are not FINRA members (i.e., bank dealers).
