Registration is now open for a virtual Compliance Outreach Program for municipal market professionals, a free webcast sponsored by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
The webcast, which will take place Dec. 7, will provide municipal market participants an opportunity to hear from SEC, MSRB and FINRA staff on timely regulatory and compliance matters for municipal advisors and dealers.
Panel topics for this all-day event will include a discussion of compliance concerns of small dealer and municipal advisor firms. There will also be a discussion on credit rating agency compliance concerns including rules of the road for municipal market participants. In addition, there are sessions on unregistered municipal advisory and dealer activity; pricing compliance; and regulatory and enforcement priorities.
“This year marks the 10th anniversary of the final municipal advisor registration rule and the 13th year since the passage of Dodd-Frank, and I think it is a great opportunity for the SEC, MSRB, and FINRA to expand the compliance conference to all municipal market participants,” Dave Sanchez, director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities, said. “The conference allows the SEC, MSRB, and FINRA a chance to speak jointly to the municipal market on where the examination, enforcement, and regulatory framework currently stands and where we see it going in the future.”
The program runs from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 7, and is open to the public.
“Open dialogue among regulators and market professionals is critical to achieving a shared understanding of the rules in place to protect municipal securities investors and issuers. We are pleased to coordinate with the SEC and FINRA to create this opportunity for municipal advisors and dealers to hear directly from regulators about matters top of mind. Importantly, our program this year devotes time to the unique compliance concerns of small firms, which is a priority for the MSRB following a series of discussions the MSRB and FINRA held with minority-and-women owned and veteran-owned firms in the municipal market,” MSRB Chief Regulatory and Policy Officer Ernesto Lanza said.
Registration is being administered by FINRA and can be accessed through FINRA.org.
“We are pleased to partner with the SEC and the MSRB to offer this substantive program designed to help market participants better understand their compliance obligations,” said Yolanda Trottman-Adewumi, FINRA vice president of specialist programs and exams.