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

MSRB FORMS MARKET STRUCTURE GROUP, HIRES CHIEF ECONOMIST

Alexandria, VA – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) announced today that it has created a Market Structure department that will consolidate the organization’s activities and functions related to market structure, market transparency, economic analysis, research and industry operations. The MSRB is recruiting for a Chief Market Structure Officer to lead the group and has hired a Chief Economist to oversee the integration of economic analysis into the MSRB’s rulemaking.

“These changes make clear our commitment to ensuring that all regulatory and transparency initiatives undertaken by the MSRB are conducted with the utmost of rigor and supported by the necessary market and technical expertise,” said MSRB Executive Director Lynnette Kelly. “The market structure group will incorporate key existing staff as well as new hires to create an extremely talented team of individuals.” Kelly said the Market Structure department will work collaboratively across the organization regarding the execution of market structure initiatives.

Joining the MSRB as Chief Economist is David H. Saltiel, who will lead the economic analysis of MSRB rulemaking and market transparency initiatives, and conduct related statistical, econometric and financial analysis. Mr. Saltiel will join the MSRB from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service, where he serves as the Chief Financial Economist and Director of Data Management, Reporting and Analytics. He is also Acting Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Debt Management. At the Treasury, Mr. Saltiel has been responsible for developing and executing a strategy to transform the bureau into a data-driven organization and for delivering economic and financial analyses that inform policy and improve outcomes. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Williams College, and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Oxford. Prior to the Treasury, Mr. Saltiel held financial advisory positions in government and the private sector including the U.S. Department of Energy and the Bethesda-based energy company Areva, Inc. 

The MSRB also recently hired two municipal market professionals as members of the Market Structure team. Michael Kobs has joined the MSRB as Senior Advisor for Municipal Market Structure and Barbara Voute’ has been hired to serve as Municipal Operations Advisor. They will join Marcelo Vieira, Director of Research, and Justin Pica, Director of Product Management for Market Transparency, as members of the newly formed market structure group.

Mr. Kobs was previously President of Muni Analytics LLC, a consulting firm focused on institutional management of municipal bond portfolios. Earlier he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Vanguard Group and held other portfolio management and credit analyst positions at Allstate Insurance Co. and Zurich Kemper Investments. At the MSRB, he will provide expert strategic and tactical advice to evolve the MSRB’s municipal market structure initiatives and municipal market transparency systems. Mr. Kobs received a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Iowa, and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago.

Ms. Voute’ served as Vice President and Fixed Income Business Unit Manager, and earlier Operations Manager at Raymond James & Associates, Inc., where she supported the unit’s operational, regulatory, trading and new business activities. At the MSRB she will provide expertise on industry uniform practice and operational matters, and support the management of MSRB market transparency products. Ms. Voute’ received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Middle Tennessee State University.

Mr. Vieira has served as Director of Research since 2008 where has overseen the creation of the MSRB’s research function, which provides analysis and statistical information products to support rulemaking, market transparency and other MSRB initiatives. He was previously Vice President of Industry Research for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, where he also held the positions of Research Analyst and Director of Market Statistics. Mr. Vieira received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Maryland.

Mr. Pica manages MSRB products and services that provide market transparency and promote a fair and efficient municipal securities market. These include the EMMA® website, the Real-Time Transaction Reporting System (RTRS), the Short-Term Obligation Rate Transparency (SHORT) System, and EMMA submission portals for primary market and continuing disclosure documents. He joined the MSRB in 1999. Mr. Pica has a bachelor’s degree in finance and marketing from Fordham University a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University.

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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