In 1975, Congress created the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) to protect investors in municipal securities and help regulate the municipal securities market. The MSRB is overseen by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
While the MSRB does not regulate municipal issuers, such as state and local governments, it regulates and sets rules for broker-dealers, municipal advisors, and other parties. Such rules cover required professional qualifications for dealers and municipal advisors, standards of conduct, and fair pricing, among other things.
The MSRB also increases transparency by providing free, public access to information regarding municipal bonds and issuers on its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website.