SEC chairman congratulates MSRB on 50 years

Paul Atkins, founder and chief executive officer of Patomak Global Partners LLC and chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission nominee for US President Donald Trump, during a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, March 27, 2025. If confirmed by the Senate, Atkins is expected to streamline the process for companies going public and rein in SEC enforcement while playing a major role in shaping new regulations for the digital-asset industry. Photographer: Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg

Bloomberg News

Since 1975, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has strengthened the “quintessentially American” muni market, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said in a speech delivered at the MSRB’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Tuesday evening.

Most communities can’t afford to finance large-scale public facilities with the resources they have available, Atkins said. The “multi-trillion dollar” muni securities market deploys capital to where it matters the most, he said, citing examples including schools, roads and hospitals.

“Bond by bond, project by project the muni market has helped to build the spaces and places where American life unfolds,” Atkins said, adding that while thousands of communities benefit from muni bonds, “the market is no less vital to the millions of Americans who own them.”

However, the variety of issuers and “unique characteristics of revenue streams” that make the muni market “so compelling” also can render it “rather complex to navigate,” Atkins said. That’s why the MSRB’s work “to democratize information” is particularly valuable, he said.

“For example the advent of EMMA nearly two decades ago transformed what was a severely fragmented disclosure system,” the SEC chairman said in a reference to the MSRB’s Electronic Municipal Market Access website.

Atkins also cited the MSRB’s efforts through its Education Center to bolster the public’s understanding of the municipal securities market.

“For 50 years MSRB has fulfilled its mandate of safeguarding the muni bond market by meeting [the] evolving needs of issuers, investors and communities alike,” the SEC chairman said.

The MSRB event, held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., also included video of recorded remarks from Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala, and Rep. Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., who co-chair the House Municipal Finance Caucus.

“As many of you know, I was a public finance lawyer before I came to Congress,” Sewell said. “I had the opportunity to see firsthand the impact that municipal bonds can have on underserved communities.”

Through its rules and data sharing, the MSRB protects city officials, investors, municipal advisors, underwriters and brokers from the start of the underwriting process to the full maturity of the bonds, she said.

Sewell said she was proud to co-chair the House Municipal Finance Caucus with Yakym, her “friend and fellow Ways and Means colleague.” In the caucus, “we elevate the voices of the municipal finance community and educate our colleagues in the House of Representatives about the importance of public finance,” she said.

“While our issues may seem complicated, we have a simple bi-partisan goal,” Sewell said. “That is to invest in our communities to strengthen infrastructure, saving tax dollars and creating jobs.”