Muni board aims to boost transparency

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will consider amending its Rule G-14 to heighten securities’ transparency, The Bond Buyer reported today. Rule G-14 essentially requires dealers to confirm that sales have been effected, and requires dealers to report every municipal security transaction to MSRB. The amendment would increase transparency of variable-rate demand and auction-rate securities — debt instruments whose interest or dividend rates are periodically reset by an auction — by altering the reporting method, MSRB executive director Lynnette Hotchkiss said at a conference with The Bond Buyer. MSRB will discuss the amendment at its quarterly meeting this Thursday and Friday.