Institute Comments on MSRB'S Municipal Market Professional Guidance Washington, DC, March 11, 2002 - The Institute has submitted a comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission in response to its release regarding the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's (MSRB) revised draft interpretive guidance on the application of various MSRB rules to sophisticated municipal market professionals (SMMPs). The Institute's letter expresses disappointment that the MSRB did not revise its interpretive notice in accordance with recommendations made to its earlier draft guidance. The letter reiterates the Institute's concerns about reducing certain of the MSRB's fair practice standards regarding a dealer's disclosure obligations, and reiterates the importance of applying the SMMP concept narrowly to ensure that all investors have timely access to material information to enable an informed investment decision. Thus, while the letter generally supports the MSRB's objective of interpreting MSRB rules to enable the development of electronic trading platforms, that support is conditioned on the draft guidance being revised to: - limit the applicability of the SMMP concept to electronic trading platforms, and
- exclude from the SMMP safe harbor certain securities that are exempt from the continuing disclosure requirements of Rule 15c2-12 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
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