MSRB Proposed Rule to Add Inter-Dealer Yield Data to EMMA

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amendments to MSRB Rule G-14 which, if approved, would add inter-dealer yield data to the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA®) website, among other changes.

The EMMA website currently displays dollar prices and yields for municipal securities transactions between dealers and customers. However, yields are not displayed for transactions between dealers. The MSRB is proposing the addition of yields on inter-dealer transactions calculated in the same manner as the dollar price and yield for customer transactions in order to improve the usefulness of the inter-dealer data displayed on the EMMA website and to increase transparency in the municipal market. If approved by the SEC, inter-dealer yields would begin being displayed on EMMA beginning April 30, 2012.

“The MSRB continues to expand the amount and type of information available to municipal market participants,” said MSRB Executive Director Lynnette Kelly. “We are seeking to display inter-dealer yields to provide parity with information available for customer transactions.”

The MSRB recently began displaying current credit ratings for municipal securities on EMMA provided by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s. Future enhancements to the EMMA system include a version designed for use on mobile devices, and the ability to receive email alerts when a particular security is traded.

The MSRB’s EMMA website is a centralized online database that provides free public access to official disclosure documents and trade data associated with municipal bonds issued in the United States. The EMMA website makes available real-time trade prices and primary market and continuing disclosure documents for over 1 million outstanding securities, as well as current interest rate information and credit ratings, liquidity documents and other information for most variable rate municipal securities.