MSRB selects new members: Artemis' Brown, Rauscher's Vanosky, three others.

WASHINGTON -- Two securities dealers, two bank dealers, and an insurance executive have been selected to serve three-year terms on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board beginning Oct. 1, the board said Friday.

Aimee S. Brown, the founding principal of Artemis Capital Group Inc., a national woman-owned investment banking firm based in New York City that specializes in municipal finance, is one of the two securities dealers to join the board in what promises to be one of its busiest years ever.

The other securities dealer is Robert A. Vanosky, an executive vice president and co-manager of the fixed-income department of Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Inc. in Dallas.

Charles D. Mires, assistant vice president and manager of the municipal bond division of Allstate Insurance Co. in Northbrook, Ill., has been selected as one of the five public members on the board and will represent investors.

The new bank dealer representatives are Roger Hayes, managing director for NationsBanc Capital Markets Inc., in Charlotte, N.C., and John S. McCune, president of Norwest Investment Services Inc. in Minneapolis.

The board consists of 15 members --five representatives of bank dealers, five representatives of securities firms, and five public members not associated with any bank dealer or securities firm. At least one public member must represent issuers and another must represent investors.

The panel also elected a new chairman at its quarterly meeting July 20-22, in Napa Valley, Calif., to replace outgoing MSRB chief David C. Clapp, a partner at Goldman, Sachs & Co. The board is expected to announce the name shortly.

The board's five new members join the panel amid growing criticism that it is too secretive and fails to reach out to issuers and other market participants affected by its rules. As a result, the board recently adopted procedures aimed at increasing its "outreach" to market participants, including possibly publishing board agendas just prior to meetings and holding regular regional meetings with market players.

The new board members will replace five officials whose three-year terms end on Sept. 30. Leaving the board are Edwin B. Horner 3d, first vice president and manager of Scott & Stringfellow Investment Corp. in Lynchburg, Va., and Gregory C. Menne, director of fixed-income management at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. in St. Louis.

Also departing are Robert B. Inzer, treasurer of Tallahassee, Fla.; Ruth E. Smith, senior vice president of capital markets at Texas Commerce Bank National Association in Houston; and M. Rex Teaney, president of the Franklin Street Trust Co. in Chapel Hill, N.C.

New board member Brown heads Artemis Capital's San Francisco office and co-manages the firm's investment banking activities throughout the nation. She is serving her second two-year term as a member of the California Debt Advisory Commission's technical advisory committee and recently began a two-year term as a member of the California intercity High-speed Rail Commission.

During his 25 years at Rauscher Pierce, Vanosky has held various senior positions in the Municipal area. In 1988, he was named to the firm's five-member executive committee, which oversees all firm business. He is currently chairman of the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas.

Before joining Allstate in 1987, Mires was portfolio manager for Bank One in Dayton, Ohio, and Flagship Financial. Hayes has worked with municipal sales, trading and underwriting, and public finance for the past 22 years. In 1990, he helped establish NationsBank Capital Markets Inc. and served as its president until July 1993.

McCune has worked over the past 17 years in municipal sales and underwriting and has held various sales management positions at Norwest before being named president in 1991. He is a member of the Twin Cities Bond Club.

The new members are joining the panel in one of the board's busiest period's in nearly 20 years of operation. The board will spend the 1994-1995 term, for instance, monitoring compliance with its controversial political contributions Rule G-37, assuming the rule is not overturned by a federal appeals court that is reviewing its constitutionality.

The rule took effect April 25 and first quarterly reports were due at the board Aug. 1. The board has won Securities and Exchange Commission approval of one set of amendments to the rule and is expected soon to propose more major revisions.

The board took a back seat to the SEC this year on initiatives aimed at improving municipal disclosure, but one rule proposed by the SEC March 17 is running into such hot water with dealers that the board could be asked to step in with an alternate proposal. The SEC rule would bar dealers from recommending bonds to customers if they have not reviewed an issuer's financial statements.

In January, the MSRB will launch its pilot program for price and transaction reporting, which will supply daily volume and prices for an average of 180 frequently traded issues a day.

The board is presently requesting comments on whether it should make significant changes to its confirmation rules. Comments are due Sept. 15.

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