[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 84 (Thursday, May 1, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24798-24800]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09919]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-72019; File No. SR-MSRB-2014-03]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Municipal Securities Rulemaking 
Board; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule 
Change Consisting of New Rule A-11, on Assessments for Municipal 
Advisor Professionals

April 25, 2014.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on April 17, 2014, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (the 
``MSRB'' or ``Board'') filed with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (the ``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as 
described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared 
by the MSRB. The MSRB has designated the proposed rule change as 
changing fees imposed by the MSRB under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the 
Act,\3\ which renders the proposal effective upon receipt of this 
filing by the Commission. The Commission is publishing this notice to 
solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The MSRB is filing with the Commission a proposed rule change 
consisting of new Rule A-11, on assessments for municipal advisor 
professionals (the ``proposed rule change'').
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the MSRB's Web 
site at www.msrb.org/Rules-and-Interpretations/SEC-Filings/2014-Filings.aspx, at the MSRB's principal office, and at the Commission's 
Public Reference Room.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the MSRB included statements 
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. The MSRB has prepared summaries, set forth in Sections 
A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The proposed rule change consists of new Rule A-11, on assessments 
for municipal advisor professionals. In the Dodd-Frank Wall Street 
Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (``Dodd-Frank Act''),\4\ 
Congress charged the SEC and MSRB with the regulation of municipal 
advisors. The Dodd-Frank Act specifically amended the Exchange Act to 
grant the MSRB authority to charge municipal advisors reasonable fees 
to defray the costs of the operation of the MSRB. The purpose of the 
proposed rule change is to assess a reasonable fee on municipal 
advisors to help defray the costs and expenses of operating and 
administering the MSRB, particularly the increased costs as a result of 
the regulation of municipal advisors. New Rule A-11 will charge each 
municipal advisor an annual fee of $300 for each Form MA-I on file with 
the SEC in the relevant year.\5\ This fee is separate from the initial 
$100 and annual $500 registration fees the MSRB charges all market 
participants subject to MSRB regulation \6\ and is a step towards the 
MSRB's goal to provide for assessments that are fairly and equitably 
apportioned among all such registrants.\7\
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    \4\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
    \5\ See 17 CFR 240.15Ba1-2(b) (setting forth requirements to 
file Form MA-I with the SEC).
    \6\ See MSRB Rules A-12 and A-14. See also MSRB Notice 2014-05 
(Feb. 27, 2014) (describing SEC-approved amendments to MSRB Rule A-
12 and deletion of Rule A-14 to consolidate MSRB registration 
requirements in Rule A-12, which will become effective on May 12, 
2014).
    \7\ On July 26, 2011, the MSRB filed a proposed rule change with 
the SEC that would have established an interim $300 per professional 
assessment of municipal advisors and would have required municipal 
advisors to complete a survey for the MSRB to use in establishing a 
permanent assessment for municipal advisor professionals. This 
filing was subsequently withdrawn due to the SEC's continuing 
consideration of the definition of the term ``municipal advisor'' 
under the Act. See MSRB Notice 2011-51 (Sept. 12, 2011).
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    Section (a) of Rule A-11 establishes an annual municipal advisor 
professional fee. This section provides that, beginning with the MSRB's 
fiscal year 2015 (which begins October 1, 2014), each municipal advisor 
that is registered with the Commission will be required to pay a 
recurring annual fee of $300 for each Form MA-I filed with the 
Commission as of January 31 of the relevant year by the municipal 
advisor. Section (a) further provides that the professional fee will be 
due by April 30 of each year and will be payable in the manner provided 
by the MSRB Registration Manual.
    Section (b) of Rule A-11 provides for a late fee for any municipal 
advisor that fails to pay timely in full any professional fee due under 
section (a) or (c) of the proposed rule. The total late fee will equal 
twenty-five dollars monthly for each $300 assessment not paid in full, 
plus a late fee on the total overdue balance based on the prime rate as 
provided for in the MSRB Registration Manual.
    Section (c) of Rule A-11 provides for a transitional municipal 
advisor professional fee. This transitional fee takes account of the 
timing of the phased-in compliance period for the SEC's permanent 
registration process, which begins in the second half of calendar year 
2014, and which entails the first filings of Forms MA-I by municipal 
advisors. Each municipal advisor registered, either temporarily or 
permanently, with the SEC on or before September 30, 2014 (the last day 
of the MSRB's fiscal year 2014), will be required to pay an assessment 
of $300 for each Form MA-I filed with the SEC by the municipal advisor 
in connection with its permanent registration. The transitional fee 
will be payable in the manner provided by the MSRB

[[Page 24799]]

Registration Manual. The transitional fee will only be assessed upon 
municipal advisors that are either temporarily or permanently 
registered on or before September 30, 2014, and will help defray in 
particular the costs of establishing a regulatory regime for municipal 
advisors. Owing to the timing of the SEC's phased-in compliance period, 
some municipal advisors will not pay this transitional fee until after 
the start of the MSRB's 2015 fiscal year. Although these municipal 
advisors will owe two assessments during the same MSRB fiscal year, the 
MSRB believes this timing of the transitional fee minimizes the 
administrative burden on municipal advisors by using the filing of 
Forms MA-I as the basis of the fee, rather than requiring an additional 
submission, analysis and categorization of professionals. Municipal 
advisors paying this transitional fee will then pay their first annual 
professional fee by April 30, 2015, according to Rule A-11(a).
2. Statutory Basis
    The MSRB believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with 
Section 15B(b)(2)(J) of the Act, which provides that the MSRB's rules 
shall

provide that each municipal securities broker, municipal securities 
dealer, and municipal advisor shall pay to the Board such reasonable 
fees and charges as may be necessary or appropriate to defray the 
costs and expenses of operating and administering the Board.

In addition, Section 15B(b)(2)(L)(iv) of the Act requires that rules 
adopted by the MSRB

not impose a regulatory burden on small municipal advisors that is 
not necessary or appropriate in the public interest and for the 
protection of investors, municipal entities, and obligated persons, 
provided that there is robust protection of investors against fraud.

    The proposed rule change will establish a fee for municipal 
advisors that will help to defray the costs and expenses of operating 
and administering the MSRB, particularly the MSRB's regulatory and 
related activities in connection with municipal advisors. The total 
amount of the assessment payable by each municipal advisor will be 
dependent on the number of Forms MA-I filed by the municipal advisor 
and, therefore, will result in relatively lower assessments for smaller 
firms. Being based on the number of persons engaging in municipal 
advisory activities on behalf of a firm, the total fee will bear a 
reasonable relationship to the level of regulated municipal advisory 
activities that are undertaken by each firm. Single-person firms filing 
one Form MA-I will be charged only $300 annually under proposed Rule A-
11.\8\ The $300 fee will not be triggered by persons for whom the 
municipal advisor is not required by the SEC to file a Form MA-I, such 
as persons performing solely clerical, administrative, support or 
similar functions.\9\ The MSRB believes that the reasonableness of the 
fee is also supported by its simplicity of calculation. Rather than 
establish a new category of professional for purposes of assessing this 
fee, which would have required additional analysis and compliance 
efforts, the fee leverages the existing categorization under the 
Commission's rules and the analysis by firms already required by those 
rules. The MSRB further believes, for all of these reasons, that the 
assessment will not impose an unnecessary or inappropriate regulatory 
burden on small municipal advisors.
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    \8\ See 17 CFR 240.15Ba1-2(b)(2) (requiring a natural person 
applying for registration with the SEC as a municipal advisor to 
file a Form MA-I).
    \9\ See Exchange Act Release No. 70462, at p. 636 (Sept. 20, 
2013), 78 FR 67468, 67655 (Nov. 12, 2013) (Glossary of Terms).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The MSRB does not believe that the proposed rule change will result 
in any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act since it would apply equally to 
all municipal advisors based on the number of Forms MA-I filed by each 
firm.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    Written comments were neither solicited nor received on the 
proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 thereunder. 
At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule change, 
the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule change if it 
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate 
in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml; or
     Send an email to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-MSRB-2014-03 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-MSRB-2014-03. This file 
number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To help 
the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, 
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on 
the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all 
written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are 
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to 
the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other 
than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the 
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for Web site viewing and 
printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20549 on official business days between the hours of 
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available 
for inspection and copying at the principal office of the MSRB. All 
comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does 
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should 
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All 
submissions should refer to File Number SR-MSRB-2014-03 and should be 
submitted on or before May 22, 2014.


[[Page 24800]]


    For the Commission, pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-09919 Filed 4-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P