[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 234 (Friday, December 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72233-72235]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-28548]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-73707; File No. SR-MSRB-2014-09]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Municipal Securities Rulemaking 
Board; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule 
Change Consisting of Amendments to MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market 
Access (EMMA) System To Add Disclosures Related to Municipal Asset-
Backed Securities

December 1, 2014.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Exchange Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is 
hereby given that on November 25, 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 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.
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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 amendments to the MSRB's Electronic Municipal Market 
Access (``EMMA'') system to add disclosures related to municipal asset-
backed securities (``ABS'') required under Exchange Act Rule 15Ga-1 \3\ 
to be filed on Form ABS-15G to the list of categories of continuing 
disclosures that EMMA will accept and disseminate publicly (the 
``proposed rule change''). The proposed rule change also makes minor 
changes of a technical nature, including removing outdated language, 
updating the naming convention used for published submitter and 
subscriber specification documents and updating information concerning 
how users can access submitter and subscriber specification documents 
(``technical amendments''). The MSRB filed the proposed rule change 
under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Exchange Act \4\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6) \5\ thereunder as a noncontroversial rule change that renders 
the proposal effective upon filing. The proposed rule change will be 
made operative no earlier than January 9, 2015 and no later than 
January 31, 2015, with the precise effective date in that range to be 
announced by the MSRB in a notice published on the MSRB Web site.
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    \3\ 17 CFR 240.15Ga-1.
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \5\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
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    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
    Pursuant to Section 943 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 
Consumer Protection Act,\6\ the SEC adopted new rules related to 
representations and warranties in ABS. One of these rules, Exchange Act 
Rule 15Ga-1,\7\ requires, among other things, certain disclosures 
related to municipal ABS to be filed on Form ABS-15G. Pursuant to Rule 
314 of Regulation S-T,\8\ the SEC identified EMMA, in addition to the 
Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system (``EDGAR''), 
as a venue that a municipal securitizer may use to make submissions of 
Form ABS-15G in compliance with Exchange Act Rule 15Ga-1.\9\ 
Accordingly, the proposed rule change consists of amendments to the 
EMMA system to add disclosures related to municipal ABS required

[[Page 72234]]

under Exchange Act Rule 15Ga-1 \10\ on Form ABS-15G to the list of 
categories of continuing disclosures that EMMA will accept and 
disseminate publicly.\11\
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    \6\ Pub. L. 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
    \7\ See 17 CFR 240.15Ga-1.
    \8\ 17 CFR 232.314.
    \9\ 17 CFR 240.15Ga-1.
    \10\ Id.
    \11\ The proposed rule change also consists of technical 
amendments to the EMMA service.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The MSRB has adopted the proposed rule change pursuant to Section 
15B(b)(2)(C) of the Exchange Act,\12\ which provides that the MSRB's 
rules shall
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    \12\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-4(b)(2)(C).

be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and 
practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to 
foster cooperation and coordination with persons engaged in 
regulating, clearing, settling, processing information with respect 
to, and facilitating transactions in municipal securities, to remove 
impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market 
in municipal securities, and, in general, to protect investors and 
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the public interest.

The MSRB believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
Exchange Act because it facilitates the implementation of Exchange Act 
Rule 15Ga-1.\13\ In addition, the proposed rule change serves to remove 
impediments to and help perfect the mechanism of a free and open market 
in municipal securities and promotes the statutory mandate of the MSRB 
to protect investors and the public interest. The proposed rule change 
would aid in making additional information for making investment 
decisions more easily accessible to all participants in the municipal 
securities market on an equal basis throughout the life of the 
securities without barriers to obtaining such information. Broad access 
to the disclosures related to municipal ABS required under Exchange Act 
Rule 15Ga-1 \14\ on Form ABS-15G through the continuing disclosure 
service of EMMA should assist in preventing fraudulent and manipulative 
acts and practices by improving the opportunity for public investors to 
access material information about issuers and their securities.
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    \13\ 17 CFR 240.15Ga-1.
    \14\ Id.
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The MSRB does not believe that the proposed rule change would 
impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Exchange Act. The SEC identified 
EMMA as a venue that a municipal securitizer may use to make 
submissions of Form ABS-15G in compliance with Exchange Act Rule 15Ga-
1.\15\ In identifying EMMA, in addition to EDGAR, as a venue for the 
disclosures on Form ABS-15G the SEC stated that ``filing on EMMA will 
facilitate use by investors, since the demand, repurchase and 
replacement disclosures will generally be available in the same 
repository where investors are most likely to look for other municipal 
ABS disclosures.'' \16\ The proposed rule change would facilitate a 
requirement that already has been adopted by the SEC and carries the 
benefits articulated by the SEC as a result of permitting submissions 
of Form ABS-15G in compliance with Exchange Act Rule 15Ga-1 \17\ and 
Rule 314 of Regulation S-T \18\ to be provided to investors on EMMA 
with other municipal ABS disclosures. While the SEC's adoption of 
Exchange Act Rule 15Ga-1 \19\ and Rule 314 of Regulation S-T \20\ are 
themselves significant, the proposed rule change to accommodate the 
intended alternative disclosure venue of EMMA and to make technical 
amendments to the EMMA service would not significantly affect the 
protection of investors or the public interest and would not impose any 
significant burden on competition.
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    \15\ Id.
    \16\ See Exchange Act Release Nos. 33-9175 and 34-63741 (January 
20, 2011), 76 FR 4489, 4509 (January 26, 2011).
    \17\ 17 CFR 240.15Ga-1.
    \18\ 17 CFR 232.314.
    \19\ 17 CFR 240.15Ga-1.
    \20\ 17 CFR 232.314.
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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

    Because the foregoing proposed rule change does not:
    (i) Significantly affect the protection of investors or the public 
interest;
    (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and
    (iii) become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was 
filed, or such shorter time as the Commission may designate,

it has become effective pursuant to Section 19(3)(A) of the Exchange 
Act \21\ and Rule 19(b)-4(f)(6) \22\ thereunder.
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    \21\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \22\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
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    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 Exchange 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 Exchange 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-2014-09 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-2014-09. 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-2014-09 and should be 
submitted on or before December 26, 2014.


[[Page 72235]]


    For the Commission, pursuant to delegated authority.\23\
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    \23\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-28548 Filed 12-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P