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

MSRB REQUESTS INFORMATION ON MUNICIPAL MARKET INDICATORS

Washington, DC – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today published a request for information on the accessibility, methodology and utility of the yield curves and other benchmarks currently available in the municipal market.

Market indicators can provide sector-specific or broad market information about the general level of municipal interest rates. The MSRB is seeking information to help support its long-term vision to enhance the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website and provide increased access to information and tools that help municipal bond investors, issuers and others make more informed decisions. The MSRB is not seeking information as a precursor to any rulemaking proposal.

 “This request for information is designed to help the MSRB better understand the current landscape of municipal market indicators,” said MSRB Executive Director Lynnette Kelly. “We hope to learn more about how these important benchmarking tools are developed and used by the diverse participants in our market, including issuers, retail investors, institutional investors and market professionals.”

Answers to questions posed in the request for information and any supporting data should be submitted to the MSRB no later than November 27, 2018. Read the request for information

Since 2012, the MSRB has worked to enhance understanding of the methodologies, mechanics and functions of municipal market indices, yield curves and other benchmarks by providing educational resources for investors and state and local governments. It has also made benchmarks more widely available by incorporating several third-party yield curves and indices into the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website.

 


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.