Muni Minute: Congress and the MSRB

This week’s Muni Minute looks at efforts in Congress to repeal and replace the Dodd-Frank Act with the Financial CHOICE Act. We look at how these municipal securities changes could affect the mission of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

VOICE OVER: Congress is planning to move ahead with draft legislation that would repeal and replace the Dodd-Frank Act. House Financial Services Committee chairman Jeb Hensarling said he plans to hold the hearing on Wednesday to consider the Financial CHOICE Act. CHOICE stands for "Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs."

The draft bill is a revised version of one that the Texas Republican proposed last year, but its municipal securities provisions remain the same. The bill would demote the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities by having it report to the Trading and Markets Division instead of directly to the head of the SEC. And it would take away a key funding source in the MSRB as the board can no longer keep some of the fines collected from enforcement actions taken by the SEC and FINRA over its rules. That money would go directly to the Treasury Department instead. I'm Chris Barnett and this has been BB Muni Minute.