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

MSRB TO PARTICIPATE IN SUNSHINE WEEK

 

Washington, DC – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) is pleased to announce its participation this week in “Sunshine Week,” a national initiative to promote dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Sunshine Week is organized by the American Society of News Editors and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

 

The MSRB operates the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website, which provides free electronic public access to information and data about nearly all municipal securities issued in the United States. Documents on EMMA, many of which are provided by state and local governments or on their behalf, help explain how governments plan to use the proceeds of a bond, how the bonds will be repaid and the borrower’s financial position, which may be of interest to all local citizens. The MSRB does not regulate issuers of municipal securities but supports complete and timely disclosure of information about their public purpose bonds. 

 

On Wednesday, March 13, 2019, from 3:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET, the MSRB is hosting a free webinar, EMMA®: Your Electronic Window into State and Local Government Finances. MSRB staff will demonstrate how to find data and information about state and local governments—from emerging risk disclosures to comprehensive annual financial reports. This webcast will also highlight several EMMA tools and resources that can assist the public with monitoring the economic and financial health of their communities. Register for the EMMA webinar.

 

The EMMA website also contains political contribution information disclosed by dealers and municipal advisors in connection with contributions they make to governmental issuer officials, state and local political parties, and bond ballot referendum committees. The availability of this information helps ensure that market participants are complying with federal regulations that generally prohibit them from engaging in municipal securities business with municipal entities for two years if certain political contributions have been made to officials of those entities who can influence the award of business.

 

As a private-sector self-regulatory organization, the MSRB celebrates, supports and facilitates access to public information. It is committed to ensuring that investors, issuers and other interested stakeholders have access to information that helps enhance their understanding of municipal bonds and local government finances.

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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