WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has added a new feature to its EMMA website that allows users to locate disclosure information that might otherwise be difficult to find in cases where new CUSIP numbers are assigned to portions of bonds after issuance.
The MSRB rolled out the new feature this month alongside live rating updates from Moody's Investors Service. With the new feature, some CUSIPS will now have a clickable tab marked "related securities" that will allow investors and other users of EMMA to more easily access information about a retired bond that could still be relevant to newly-issued bonds.
Related securities can be created, for example, when a bond is partially called in connection with a current refunding. The original CUSIP is retired and new CUSIPs are assigned to the refunded and unrefunded portions.
"We know that there are many EMMA users that want access to disclosures for partially refunded bonds and other securities connected with original bond issues," said MSRB executive director Lynnette Kelly. "Digitally linking these new bonds to the retired security on EMMA solves the challenge of locating disclosures for these related securities."
For example, a 2008 issuance from the Auburn Union School District in Placer County, Calif., has the CUSIP 050286CG6. But upon clicking on the new related securities tab, an EMMA user can see that two related CUSIPS exist because of a refunding. The EMMA pages for the two new CUSIPS contain only very recent continuing disclosure information and no official statement, while the page for the original security includes an official statement and continuing disclosure submissions going back several years. Prior to the new function, it would have taken some effort for an investor to make the connection between the new CUSIPS and the original issuance.
The MSRB said that the new feature can be useful to both investors in the new securities as well as the issuer of the original security, which might want to be able to access the disclosure information and official statement linked to the initial bond. The MSRB will be adding the appropriate related securities links to EMMA based on information it receives from a variety of sources, the MSRB said.
EMMA has been the sole centralized repository for muni bond disclosure documents since 2009. The MSRB's long-term goal is to continue to build the site's capabilities and make it into a central transparency platform. With Moody's ratings added this month, EMMA now includes live ratings updates from all agencies as Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor's, and Kroll Bond Rating Agency were already available.
The board has also offered up a number of recent proposals designed to provide even more information to investors. Last month the board received Securities and Exchange Commission approval to include additional post-trade data form display on EMMA.
