On January 9, 2014, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) published a request for comments on a proposed new conduct rule for non-solicitor municipal advisors and amendments to existing books and records rules to include municipal advisors in Regulatory Notice 2014-01 (the “Rule Notice”).
The Dodd-Frank Act required persons engaged in the business of being municipal advisors, as defined in the Act, to register with the SEC as municipal advisors and to become members of the MSRB. In 2010 the SEC created a temporary registration program for municipal advisors which is still in effect. On September 13, 2013, the SEC adopted final rules for municipal advisors, including permanent registration forms and requirements. The final rules will become effective on July 1, 2014, and persons currently registered as municipal advisors under the temporary registration program will be required to apply for permanent registration on a rolling basis from July to October 2014. For additional detail on municipal advisor registration, see the Municipal Advisor topic on the firm’s Dodd-Frank Site.
All registered municipal advisors are required to become members of the MSRB. Municipal advisor members are subject only to those MSRB rules specifically designated as applicable to municipal advisors. In the Rule Notice, the MSRB proposes to (1) adopt a new conduct rule, Rule G-42, applicable to non-solicitor municipal advisors, (2) amend Rule G-8, requiring the making of books and records, to apply to municipal advisors and (3) amend Rule G-9, requiring the preservation of records, to apply to municipal advisors.
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