MSRB Publishes First Report on Municipal Bond Continuing Disclosure Documents

ALEXANDRIA , Va., Aug. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today published its first report summarizing the type and number of continuing disclosure documents for municipal securities available on the MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website.

Continuing disclosures report the financial or operating condition of a municipal bond issuer over time, as well as specific events occurring after issuance that can have affect the ability of the issuer to repay the bond. Since July 1, 2009, the EMMA website has been the official repository for continuing disclosures.

Between July 2009 and June 2011, the MSRB received 258,162 continuing disclosure documents, according to the MSRB's Continuing Disclosure Statistical Summary. The report shows fairly steady month-over-month increases in all types of continuing disclosures submitted to the MSRB by municipal bond issuers and obligated persons.

Other highlights of the report include:

• Financial and operating disclosures accounted for about 46 percent of all submitted disclosures during the 24-month period beginning in July 2009.  
• Nearly 138,382 event disclosures were submitted from July 2009 through June 2011 and accounted for 54 percent of all disclosures submitted to the MSRB.  
• Approximately 89 percent of all event disclosures submitted from July 2009 through June 2011 were bond calls and credit rating changes.

The MSRB collects and makes available to investors for free continuing disclosure documents associated with most municipal bonds on its EMMA website. These activities support the MSRB's mission to provide broad and timely access to key municipal market documents and data.

The MSRB also publishes an annual Fact Book and quarterly municipal securities statistics, which are available electronically on www.msrb.org.

SOURCE Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)