Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Publishes 2009 Municipal Bond Fact Book

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today released its 2009 Fact Book, an annual sourcebook that analyzes trading data and statistics for the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market.  The Fact Book includes analysis on nearly every trade reported to the MSRB by municipal securities dealers in the last five years and provides key municipal market statistics unavailable elsewhere. 

This year's Fact Book includes for the first time interest rate resets information and trading statistics for auction rate securities and variable rate demand obligations.  The MSRB began collecting this data in 2009. Also new to this year's Fact Book are lists of the most actively traded municipal securities and trading volume for newly issued securities.

The MSRB, which regulates municipal securities dealers, collects and disseminates official data about the municipal securities market as part of its mission to protect and educate investors. The MSRB makes municipal trade data available free of charge on its EMMA website. Daily and historical summaries of trade data based on security type, size, sector, maturity, source of repayment and coupon type are housed in EMMA's Market Statistics section. An electronic version of the MSRB 2009 Fact Book also is available free of charge on EMMA and at www.msrb.org. 

The MSRB's market information transparency programs promote transparency and access to real-time, municipal market bond information.  EMMA makes this information available to the public for free.  Investors have access to hundreds of thousands of municipal bond offering documents, ongoing disclosures about bonds and transaction prices, as well as educational resources about the municipal bond market.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) was established in 1975 by Congress to protect investors and the public interest, by promoting a fair and efficient municipal securities market. To accomplish this mission, the MSRB regulates securities firms and banks that underwrite, trade and sell municipal securities, and collects and disseminates market information. The MSRB operates the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website to promote transparency and widespread access to information, provides education and conducts extensive outreach as part of its mission-driven activities. The MSRB is composed of members from the municipal securities dealer community and the public, and is a self-regulatory organization subject to oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)