PORTLAND, ORE. - The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors voted at its annual meeting Thursday to change its name to the National Association of Municipal Advisors and also elected Terri Heaton of Minnesota-based Springsted Inc. as its president.
The new organization provides for an expanded membership classification that includes all registered MAs in good standing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. But it will remain an organization of members of firms whose primary business is MA work and who are independent from bond underwriters.
There has been some confusion in the industry since Dodd-Frank required registration of municipal advisors. "Financial advisor" for years has been the industry term for firms giving advice to municipalities, and remains common terminology.
"Since October 2011, the NAIPFA Board of Directors has been reviewing its current operating model and considered changes the organization should undertake to ensure that an inclusive association represents the interests of all municipal advisory professionals," NAMA said in a release. "NAMA will continue its work as the recognized voice of the municipal advisor industry in support of the collective interests of issuers, investors, and the public trust; a vibrant, competitive, and transparent municipal securities industry; and the highest standards of professional ethics, qualifications, education, training, and regulatory compliance."
"In the new era of regulation, municipal advisor firms must either comply with the law or cease to conduct business," said Heaton, who succeeded Jeanine Rodgers Caruso of Fiscal Advisors & Marketing, Inc. as president. "NAMA will work to serve the interests of issuers, the municipal securities industry, and the municipal advisor profession. Our objective is to make the municipal securities industry better for all participants and issuers in particular."
Heaton said the organization will work to help MAs take and pass the MSRB's core competency exam, which is currently under development. MAs will have one year to pass the exam once it becomes available. NAMA also plans to revise its own certification exam, provide continuing education for its members, and develop best practices for municipal advisors, Heaton said.
