MSRB to improve transparency

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board took action to improve transparency in the municipal bond market during its three-day quarterly meeting that wrapped up today in Beaver Creek, Colo. One of the features approved by the Alexandria, Va.-based MSRB is a plan to develop a system to collect and disseminate critical market information on municipal bond securities, with the first phase of the plan slated to be completed in the first quarter of next year. “This measure reflects market and regulatory support for increasing available data on classes of municipal securities that have not been fully transparent,” MSRB chairman Frank Chin said in a statement. The MSRB board also evaluated the expansion of its Electronic Municipal Market Access database, which would accept and disseminate secondary market information called continuing disclosure documents for use by retail investors. The MSRB is a self-regulatory organization that was created by Congress in 1975.