The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board assigned muni market veterans to its compliance and municipal funds advisory groups.
A group of 11 will bring their expertise to the second year of the Municipal Fund Securities Advisory Group focused on rules and transparency for certain municipal fund securities, the MSRB announced this week.
The MSRB also announced its members this week for its Compliance Advisory Group, which is on its third consecutive year.
The MSRB first formed the Municipal Fund Securities Advisory group in October 2018 to give input on rules, practices, transparency and investor education related to 529 savings plans and Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014 (ABLE) programs.
529 plans are tax-advantaged municipal securities designed to encourage saving for the future education expenses of a named beneficiary. ABLE programs are tax-advantaged savings accounts for individuals with disabilities and their families.
The Compliance Advisory Group provides feedback on compliance resources, tools and educational material.
“The MSRB’s advisory groups provide the organization with another touch-point to the industry and further insight into the municipal securities market,” said Nanette Lawson, MSRB interim chief executive officer, and chief financial officer. “We greatly value the contributions of the professionals who volunteer to serve on our advisory groups.”
Both groups will advance the MSRB’s goal of emphasizing stakeholder engagement, the MSRB wrote in its press release.
MSRB Board Chair Edward Sisk has said he wants to continue former Chair Gary Hall’s stakeholder efforts. Sisk is also creating a formal stakeholder engagement committee. That committee has five members and is led by MSRB Board Member Jerry Ford.
Hall called his term as chair, which ended in September, as the “year of the stakeholder.” He increased the MSRB’s engagement efforts with multiple outreach events such as conferences, town halls and roundtables.
Some of the members in the Compliance Advisory Group are Leo Karwejna, PFM managing director and chief compliance officer; Jeremy Colgan, compliance officer and senior vice president in Jefferies LLC municipal securities group; Ryan Gilliam, CitiGroup Global Markets general counsel for its Municipal Securities Division; Meenah Kim, legal division executive director at Morgan Stanley and Courtney Shea, managing member at Columbia Capital Management LLC.
In the Municipal Fund Securities Advisory Group — Mary Anne Busse, managing director at Great Disclosure LLC; Richard Ellis, my529 executive director; Mary Lehman, senior director of tuition financing, 529 College Savings Program Manager at TIAA and Jennifer Selliers, director of internal compliance at the Tennessee Department of Treasury.
