Summary
The MSRB established a Toolkit to provide educational resources to state and local governments on the municipal securities market.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board recently established an online State and Local Government Toolkit to provide educational resources that are designed to improve state and local government understanding of the municipal securities market. The Toolkit provides information about the issuance of municipal bonds, the roles and responsibilities of financial professionals in a municipal bond offering and the use of EMMA (or the Electronic Municipal Market Access system) to communicate with investors. An issuer also will find a tool for tracking trading activity of municipal bonds in the secondary market and a summary of the MSRB regulations that are applicable to dealers underwriting municipal securities transactions and municipal advisors providing advisory services to state and local governments.

The Toolkit provides state and local government officials with the information they need to make appropriate financing decisions and resources to understand their legal protections under MSRB rules. The Toolkit includes material on the following topics:

Understanding Municipal Bond Issuance

• Six Things to Know When Issuing Municipal Bonds.
• What to Expect from Your Underwriter.
• MSRB Rules: Essentials for Issuers.
• Roles and Responsibilities: The Financing Team.
• Professionals Involved in a Negotiated Municipal Bond Financing Transaction.
• Professionals Involved in a Competitive Municipal Bond Financing Transaction.

Understanding and Using the EMMA System

• SEC Rule 15c2-12.
• About the EMMA System.
• Six Ways to Use EMMA.
• Submitting Continuing Disclosure to the EMMA Website.

Established in 1975, the MSRB is an independent, self-regulatory rulemaking board for the municipal securities industry. It is authorized by federal law to create rules to govern municipal securities dealers, brokers and advisors in a uniform and consistent manner. The mission of the MSRB is to protect investors, state and local governments and the public interest.

For more information on the Alert, please contact Brian Kowalski at 609.452.5046 or bkowalski@saul.com, or any other member of the Saul Ewing LLP Public Finance Practice.