WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission Friday said it’s delaying taking action on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s proposed rules that would govern the activities of broker’s-brokers until at least June 22.
Broker’s-brokers, which act as intermediaries between dealers selling and bidding on municipal securities, provide secondary market liquidity for retail investors.
The MSRB filed a new proposed Rule G-43 — along with amendments to Rules G-18 on execution of transactions, G-8 on record-keeping and G-9 on record retention — with the SEC in early March, urging that they become effective six months after approval by the SEC.
Under the new proposed Rule G-43, broker’s brokers would be required to make a reasonable effort to obtain a price for a dealer that was fair and reasonable in relation to prevailing market conditions, among other things.
The SEC was to have soon acted on the MSRB’s filing. In addition to the delay until June 22, the commission could institute additional proceedings, which would give it another 90 days to approve or disapprove the proposal. The 90-day period could then be extended to 150 days.
The rules must be approved by the SEC to take effect.
