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Contact: Jennifer A. Galloway, Chief Communications Officer
             (703) 797-6600
             jgalloway@msrb.org  

MUNICIPAL SECURITIES RULEMAKING BOARD ANNOUNCES
NEW OFFICERS AND GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE

Alexandria, VA – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today announced its officers for Fiscal Year 2011, as well as a restructured Board committee and advisory group structure to enable the MSRB to fulfill its expanded mandate to protect state and local governments, in addition to investors and the public interest.

As of October 1, 2010 – the beginning of the new fiscal year – the MSRB will be governed by a majority of independent, public members and include municipal advisor representatives, who for the first time will be subject to regulation by the MSRB. The timetable for implementing these changes, which are part of the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, require experienced leadership and a governance structure that can effectively and without market disruption guide the MSRB, said Executive Director Lynnette Kelly Hotchkiss.

Michael G. Bartolotta, Vice Chairman of First Southwest Co., will serve as Chair of the MSRB and John W. Young, II, Managing Director of Municipal Underwriting and Public Finance Marketing at Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. Inc., will serve as Vice Chair. Officer terms are for one year.

"Historic legislative changes have altered the MSRB’s composition and our mission,” said Hotchkiss. “We will be adapting to a wholly new dynamic as a regulatory organization,” she said. “The expertise that Mike and John provide, combined with a new committee and advisory structure, will allow us to move through this transition year in the strongest possible position and with the best balance of industry and public representation.”

Pending approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the MSRB will alter its board composition rules to be consistent with the provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act and create a transitional 21-member board. That board would be composed of 11 public members and 10 industry members, including seven broker-dealer and bank dealer members, and three municipal advisor members. The MSRB will announce the names of new Board members following SEC approval of its rule changes.

The MSRB’s new governance structure will provide for an audit, governance and nominating committee chaired by public members as well as four advisory councils representing investors, issuers, municipal advisors and dealers. These councils will act as a resource to the Board and inform its rulemaking activities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) protects and strengthens the municipal bond market, enabling access to capital, economic growth, and societal progress in tens of thousands of communities across the country. The MSRB fulfills this mission by creating trust in our market through informed regulation of dealers and municipal advisors that protects investors, issuers and the public interest; building technology systems that power our market and provide transparency for issuers, institutions, and the investing public; and serving as the steward of market data that empowers better decisions and fuels innovation for the future. The MSRB is a self-regulatory organization governed by a board of directors that has a majority of public members, in addition to representatives of regulated entities. The MSRB is overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission and Congress.

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