MSRB Advances Rule Modernization, Transparency, and Strategic Plan

MSRB Regulatory Notices

Published January 29th, 2026

Detected March 13th, 2026

Summary

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) held its quarterly board meeting, discussing advancements in rule modernization, market transparency initiatives, and its forthcoming FY 2026-2030 strategic plan. Key topics included retrospective rule reviews, harmonization with FINRA rules, and updates on the EMMA website.

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What changed

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) held its second quarterly meeting of fiscal year 2026, focusing on significant regulatory modernization and market transparency efforts. The Board discussed harmonizing Rule G-20 with FINRA's rules on gifts and gratuities, potential modernization of dealer supervision under Rule G-27, and easing compliance for Form G-32 submissions. Updates were also provided on the EMMA website modernization and a new data repository.

Regulated entities, particularly broker-dealers and financial advisers, should monitor these developments. While this notice details discussions and ongoing processes, specific rule changes and their compliance implications will be detailed in future MSRB publications. The MSRB also reviewed its draft FY 2026-2030 strategic plan, which is expected to be adopted in the spring, indicating a continued focus on regulatory modernization and market transparency.

What to do next

Review MSRB's ongoing retrospective rule review and harmonization processes.
Monitor upcoming MSRB requests for comment (RFC) related to rule modernization.
Stay informed about updates to the EMMA website and data repository.

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Date:

January 29, 2026

Contact: Aleis Stokes, Chief External Relations Officer
202-838-1500
astokes@msrb.org

MSRB ADVANCES RULE MODERNIZATION AND MARKET TRANSPARENCY INITIATIVES AND DISCUSSES STRATEGIC PLAN AT QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING

Washington, D.C. – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) met on January 28-29, 2026, holding its second quarterly meeting of fiscal year 2026. MSRB’s Board covered topics including the retrospective rule review and harmonization processes, market transparency initiatives and forthcoming FY 2026-2030 strategic plan.

“MSRB is committed to ensuring our regulatory framework keeps pace with an evolving market,” said MSRB Board Chair Natasha A. Holiday. “We will continue actively engaging market participants as we work to align our rules with current market practices, enhance the quality of our data and modernize our market transparency systems in serving our congressional mandate to protect investors, issuers and the public interest.”

Market Regulation

The Board discussed the ongoing retrospective rule review process and regulatory matters including:

Rule G-20: Authorized staff to harmonize Rule G-20 on gifts and gratuities with proposed amendments to FINRA Rule 3220.
Rule G-27: Discussed potential further steps in modernizing MSRB’s dealer supervision rule following MSRB’s RFC.
Rule G-12(h): Reviewed current close out practices to assess the effectiveness of existing rule requirements in this area.
Rule G-32: Discussed current and future steps to ease compliance with Form G-32 submission requirements.
Received a report on the forthcoming RFC to retire the use of the term “financial advisor” and discussed further steps, including sequencing of regulatory initiatives, in connection with the municipal advisor retrospective rule review.

Market Transparency and Public Accountability

The Board received several updates on market transparency and public accountability initiatives, including:

Recently published and planned research, including the 2025 Year in Review report released earlier this month.
A review of MSRB’s 2025 Annual Report, which was released last week.
Continued work on the forthcoming new version of the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website.
A demonstration of the modernized data repository that underpins EMMA and other MSRB data collection and dissemination systems.

Strategic Plan

The Board reviewed MSRB’s draft FY 2026-2030 strategic plan and the feedback provided by stakeholders on MSRB’s objectives of regulatory modernization, market transparency and public accountability. The Board expects to adopt the strategic plan later this spring.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) was established by Congress in 1975 with the mission to protect investors, issuers and the public interest in a fair and efficient market. MSRB is a private, self-regulatory organization governed by an independent board of directors with market knowledge and expertise. MSRB does not receive federal appropriations and is funded primarily through fees paid by regulated entities. MSRB is overseen by Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission.