The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board said it will vote on the MSRB's proposed fiscal year 2027 budget and hold FY2027 officer elections for board chair and vice chair at next week's quarterly board meeting, its final quarterly meeting of the current fiscal year.
The board also will elect four new board members during the meeting, set for July 22 and July 23, the MSRB said in a Wednesday press release. The MSRB's 2027 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The new officers elected for FY2027 will succeed Chair Natasha Holiday and Vice Chair Wendell Gaertner, who began their one-year terms in those roles on Oct. 1, 2025. Each of the four new board members will be elected to four-year terms, which will start on Oct. 1.
The meeting will also include discussion of several ongoing initiatives, the release said.
With regard to regulatory modernization, the board is slated to discuss potential next steps on MSRB dealer supervision initiatives relating to MSRB Rule G-27, according to the release.
In relation to MSRB Rule G-11, which concerns primary offering practices, the board will receive an update on stakeholder engagement on open contractual commitments.
The board will also receive a primer on Rule G-37, which concerns political contributions, as part of the MSRB's retrospective rule review. The board will also receive an update on market infrastructure rules, the release said.
On the public accountability and market transparency front, the board will discuss stakeholder feedback on the FY2027 draft budget and receive an update regarding the forthcoming modernization of the Electronic Municipal Market Access website. The board will also discuss a report on the taxable municipal market and recent MSRB research, the release said.
In addition, the MSRB on July 21 will host a board education session regarding decentralized finance and asset tokenization, the release said.
Michael Decker, senior vice president for research and public policy at the Bond Market Association, formerly known as the Bond Dealers of America, said while he hasn't seen the actual draft FY2027 budget, BMA has talked a bit about it with MSRB staff.
"We appreciate the board's transparency around the budget, and we appreciate the planned modest increase in MSRB spending next year," Decker said. "However, the rate card system for setting fees for regulated entities still needs work."
The MSRB "continues to collect millions more in revenue than it needs, and the balance between the contributions of dealers and [municipal advisors] continues to be lopsided," Decker said.
"We plan to maintain our dialog with the MSRB on these issues," he said.
