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


THE MUNICIPAL SECURITIES RULEMAKING BOARD LAUNCHES
NEW MARKET DATA FEATURE ON EMMA

Alexandria, VA - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has introduced a new feature on its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) system that for the first time allows investors to view municipal market trading trends. The addition of daily statistics on EMMA is the first in a series of initiatives by the MSRB to provide investors with more extensive data on municipal bonds to help them better understand the market.  All disclosure documents, trade data, market statistics and other information on EMMA is provided free of charge.

"We are very pleased to provide a way for investors to easily evaluate municipal bond trading trends," said MSRB Chair Ronald A. Stack.  "We know that this information has been difficult to access in the past, but it is an important way that investors can better understand the municipal bond market," he said. 

EMMA is a free website (www.emma.msrb.org) operated by the MSRB that provides  access to municipal bond disclosure documents such as official statements, as well as real-time and historical trade data for the market.  The new data feature is part of EMMA's Market Activity section located here.  Investors can now view snapshots of daily trade data based on municipal security characteristics such as size, sector, maturity and source of repayment.

The MSRB plans to expand EMMA's market statistics to include additional information and historical data, as well as enhance existing functionality.  EMMA will soon include market data on municipal auction rate securities and variable rate demand obligations. In addition, beginning July 1, 2009, investors will be able to view and download ongoing information, called continuing disclosures, about existing municipal bonds.

The MSRB, with the support of the Securities and Exchange Commission, created EMMA in 2008 to increase available information and transparency in the municipal market in accordance with its investor protection mission. 

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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