SEC, FINRA and the MSRB to Hold Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today announced the opening of registration for the Compliance Outreach Program for Municipal Advisors to be held on November 10 as a live webcast on the MSRB website. 

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) and Office of Municipal Securities are partnering with FINRA and the MSRB to sponsor the program, which will run from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The webinar will highlight OCIE and FINRA staff examination findings on municipal advisors’ registration and give municipal advisors a detailed explanation of the registration process.

“This webinar is designed to promote compliance with municipal advisor registration rules by providing municipal advisor professionals the opportunity to hear from all three regulators on the important topics of initial and ongoing SEC and MSRB registration obligations,” said Jessica Kane, Director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities.  

“This municipal advisor outreach will take municipal advisors through the registration processes at the SEC and the MSRB to help ensure proper regulatory compliance,” said Suzanne McGovern, Assistant Director of the SEC's broker-dealer and municipal advisor examination programs. 

Mike Rufino, FINRA’s Executive Vice President of Member Regulation-Sales Practice, said, “The discussions covering the information required to complete the initial registration process and meet firms’ ongoing obligations will be valuable to municipal advisors. Any firm that is uncertain as to the regulatory expectations of firms in completing and updating their municipal advisor applications will benefit from participating in the webinar.”

“This program is consistent with the MSRB’s goal of providing resources to municipal advisors to help them understand their regulatory obligations,” said Lynnette Kelly, Executive Director of the MSRB. “Municipal advisors will benefit from hearing first-hand from our staff.”

There is no cost to attend the program. Registration is open to all municipal advisor professionals. Please register for the program here.  

Information on accessing the webcast will be posted on the SEC, FINRA and the MSRB websites on the day of the program. For additional information, visit the SEC, FINRA, or the MSRB website. 

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business – from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, and informing and educating the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.