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Contact:            Lynnette Kelly Hotchkiss, Executive Director
                        (703) 797-6600
                        lhotchkiss@msrb.org

Contact:            Ernesto A. Lanza, Senior Associate General Counsel
                        (703) 797-6600
                        elanza@msrb.org


EMMA: ELECTRONIC MUNICIPAL MARKET ACCESS
MSRB Launches Pilot Municipal
Securities Market Web-Based Disclosure Portal

Alexandria, VA - The MSRB has confirmed that it will launch a pilot program of EMMA on Monday, March 31, 2008 after receiving the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier today. EMMA, which stands for Electronic Municipal Market Access, is an Internet-based disclosure portal which provides free public access to disclosure documents and real-time municipal securities trade price data for the municipal securities market. The EMMA website will be accessible at emma.msrb.org. An image of the EMMA home page is attached.

EMMA is being implemented in stages through the end of 2008:

  • Pilot Phase - March 31, 2008 - providing, on a pilot basis, official statements (OSs) for new issues of municipal securities and related documents for advance refundings of outstanding municipal securities (ARDs), together with real-time municipal securities trade price data.
  • Access=Delivery Phase - June 30, 2008 or shortly thereafter - providing permanent real-time access to OSs, ARDs and trade price data - "Access=Delivery" rules requiring electronic submission and dissemination of OSs expected to become effective
  • Continuing Disclosure Pilot Phase - August 1, 2008 or shortly thereafter - providing, on a pilot basis, for voluntary submission and real-time dissemination of continuing disclosures by issuers and obligated persons, together with real-time access to OSs, ARDs and trade price data
  • Full Service Phase - December 1, 2008 or shortly thereafter (subject to applicable rulemaking by the SEC) - providing permanent submission and real-time dissemination of all required continuing disclosures by issuers and obligated persons under the SEC's Rule 15c2-12, together with real-time access to OSs, ARDs and trade price data.

"Thanks to the leadership of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, investors will soon have more information about municipal securities freely available on the Internet to help them make better investment decisions," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

MSRB Chairman Frank Chin stated "Upon full implementation, EMMA will provide a permanent, centralized and comprehensive Internet-based system for free real-time public access to all primary market, secondary market and trade price data for municipal securities submitted to the MSRB. In furtherance of our mission of investor protection, we are pleased that the MSRB can provide this important utility to investors in our market." MSRB Executive Director Lynnette Hotchkiss added, "We look forward to continuing to work cooperatively with the SEC on rolling out the future phases of EMMA, particularly as we expand EMMA's capabilities to integrate continuing disclosures with our existing primary market and trade price information."

Information about MSRB regulation of broker-dealer and bank dealer activities in the municipal securities market and the existing data services provided by the MSRB is available at www.msrb.org.

 

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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