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Contact: Jennifer A. Galloway, Chief Communications Officer
              202-838-1500
              jgalloway@msrb.org

MSRB LAUNCHES OUTREACH EFFORT FOR ISSUERS ON THE MUNICIPAL SECURITIES MARKET

Washington, DC – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) announced today it is launching an outreach effort to remind state and local governments about the free education resources and tools available to support their issuance of municipal bonds. The MSRB operates an online Education Center about the municipal securities market and the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website to support market transparency and awareness.

“Part of the mission of the MSRB is to educate state and local governments on how to use the MSRB’s free tools to help them navigate the municipal bond market,” said MSRB Executive Director Lynnette Kelly. “The MSRB wants to be the 3-1-1 for municipal bond issuers—we’re here to assist when they have questions about how to use EMMA and what to expect from their financial professionals.”

The MSRB’s new campaign will highlight resources issuers can use to help them fulfill their continuing disclosure obligations to investors and understand what they need to know about new regulations for municipal advisors who advise state and local governments on municipal securities transactions. The outreach effort will also help issuers learn how they can take full advantage of the EMMA website to communicate with investors.

A series of webinars, emails and related communications aimed and state and local governments will be offered over the next six months. The first webinar, called “Click, Call, Comply: Understanding Continuing Disclosure,” will be offered on March 18, 2016 at 12:00 p.m. Register for the webinar. CPE credit is available. 

State and local governments and related organizations that wish to learn more about the MSRB’s outreach effort or request the MSRB’s appearance at an upcoming event should contact Ritta McLaughlin, MSRB Chief Education Officer, at 202-838-1306 or rmclaughlin@msrb.org. Sign up to receive emails about state and local government education from the MSRB. 

State and local governments and other municipal entities issue approximately $400 billion in municipal bonds each year. The issuance of these bonds involves, among other things, the hiring of financial professionals, such as underwriters and municipal advisors, and communicating to investors on a regular basis.

“When state and local governments decide to issue bonds to finance public infrastructure projects, they can benefit from access to objective information about the market,” Kelly said.  “The MSRB is a neutral resource available to support issuers’ information needs and their disclosure obligations.” 

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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