Excerpts: SEC amended rules on secondary market disclosure.

Editor's Note: The following is the final installment of the amended rules on secondary market disclosure requirements approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission last Thursday. The installment includes sections dealing with the responsibilities of broker-dealers and information repositories, as well as exemptions from the amended rules.

B. Recommendation of Transactions in Municipal Securities

The Proposed Amendments would have prohibited any broker, dealer, or municipal securities dealer from recommending the purchase or sale of a municipal security unless it had specifically reviewed the information the issuer of such municipal security had undertaken to provide.(135) The purpose of this provision of the Proposed Amendments was to assist dealers in satisfying their obligation to have a reasonable basis to recommend municipal securities by requiring them to consider the most current information before making a recommendation.

In view of the importance of secondary market Liquidity in municipal issues, the Commission requested comment on whether the proposed Amendments would have a substantial or long-lasting effect on market liquidity. This request for comment was based on concerns raised about whether municipal securities dealers would be willing to effect secondary market transaction, in a broad rage of municipal securities if review was required on a recommendation-by-recommendation basis.

Many commenters strongly criticized this provision of the Proposed Amendments. The majority of commenters responded that requiring the review of information prior to making a recommendation on the purchase or sale of a municipal security would create substantial compliance burdens for dealers.(136) Commenters also noted that the specific requirement to review information either, would impel dealers to hire larger research and and analysis staffs,(137) or, more likely, would cause dealers to restrict the issuers whose municipal securities they would trade to a smaller number of large and frequent issuers.(138)

Commenters, predicted that, as result, liquidity for all but the largest and most frequent issuers would be reduced.(139) Commenters proposed alternatives to the recommendation prohibition, including basing the type of review of a municipal security, and disclosure about such review, whether the investor was an institutional or retail investor,(140) or on the type of municipal security recommended.(141) Other commenters suggested the continued reliance on the reasonable basis standard inherent in the MSRB's suitability rule, G-19, and the antifraud provisions, as discussed by the Commission in the 1988 and 1989 Releases propose and aWing Rule 15c2-12, as well as the Interpretive Release.(142)

As adopted, this provision has been modified in a number of respects to respond to concerns expressed by commenters. In particular the amendment, replace the proposed review standard with a requirement that dealers have procedures in place that provide reasonable assurance that they will receive promptly any notices of material events regarding the securities that they recommend. The events are any of the eleven events disclosed as described in Rule 15c2-12(b)(5)(i)(c), or the notice of failure to provide annual financial information in accordance with an undertaking as described in Rule 15c2-12 (b)(5)(i)(D) with respect to that security. Many dealers currently subscribe to electronic reporting systems that give notice of significant events made public by municipal issuers. To comply with the rules requirement, these dealers should make certain that these systems receive, directly or indirectly, material event notices for issues the dealer recommends. In addition, dealers should develop procedures to ensure that notices of such events will be available to the staff responsible for making recommendations.

In the Commission's view, the recommendation provision, as modified, should substantially reduce the concerns of commenters with respect to compliance burdens and effects on liquidity. It also will help ensure that dealers will consider the material event notices that issuers produce, thus enabling them to have an adequate basis on which to recommend(143) municipal securities.

Moreover, even though the amendments do not require that dealers directly review an issuer's ongoing disclosure before making each recommendation, the Commission agrees with those commenters that said that additional information made available by issuers will be taken into account by dealers making recommendations regarding that security, under the MSRB's fair dealing and suitability the antifraud provisions.(144) In addition to the Commission's past interpretations of the responsibilities of dealers to have a reasonable basis for their recommendations, the MSRB repeatedly has emphasized that secondary market disclosure information publicized by issuers must be taken into account by dealers to meet the investor protection standards information by its investor protection rules. Specifically, MSRB rule G-17 requires dealers to disclose material facts of a transaction to the customer. MSRB rule G-19 requires dealers to ensure that any transaction recommended to the customer is suitable for that customer; and MSRB rule G-30 requires dealer to ensure that the prices set for customer transactions are fair and reasonable. In its comment letter, the MSRB noted that "[i]f a dealer is not aware of major financial and other material developments affecting an issuer's securities, it is difficult or impossible for the dealer to comply with these requirements."(145)

For example, if a dealer reviews an electronic reporting system for material events relating to a security, and finds that an issuer has submitted notice that it has failed to provide annual financial information on or before the date specified in the written agreement or contract,(146) that fact would be significant factor to be taken into account when the dealer formulates the basis for a recommendation of such securities. While the dealer would not be prohibited per se from recommending such municipal securities, notice that the issuer has failed to provide annual financial information would be the type of material information required to be disclosed to the customer pursuant to MSRB rule G-17.(147) Such a notice also would trigger a further inquiry by the dealer to assure itself that it is cognizant of the condition of the issuer or obligated persons, despite the absence of promised information. This also would be true if a dealer attempts to obtain an issuer's annual financial information, finds that it has not been submitted to any repository, and the dealer had no record of the issuer submitting a notice to this effect. In such cases, further research may be necessary or advisable prior to making a recommendation in the issuer's securities.

C. Information Repositories

1. Background

Under Rule 15c2-12, as adopted in 1989, NRMSIRs essentially serve the function of disseminators of official statements on behalf of Participating Underwriters.(148) The option of Participating Underwriters to transfer their final official statement delivery obligations to NRMSIRs has encouraged the development NRMSIRs.(149) The three existing NRMSIRs are private vendors that gather and disseminate final official statements pursuant to Rule 15c2-12. In addition, although not required under existing provisions of the rule, they provide other current information about municipal issuers to the primary and secondary municipal securities markets.(150)

As a result of the amendments, NRMSIRs will play an expanded role in the collection and dissemination of secondary market information. In addition to the collection and dissemination of final official statements, they will collect and disseminate annual financial information, as well as notices of material events. The Commission is sensitive to the need of NRMSIRs for flexibility, especially with respect to the timing requirements for the dissemination of notices of material events. The Commission will monitor developments in the municipal securities market as participants adapt to the changes in Rule 15c2-12, and fully expects that the current and potential NRMSIRs, are capable of adjusting to their expanded role. The Commission is of the view that NRMSIRs, as private information vendors, will have sufficient economic incentives to serve their expanded functions resulting from the amendments to Rule 15c2-12, even in the absence of the more specific review requirement of the recommendation prohibition of the Proposed Amendments.(151)

2. Definition of Nationally Recognized Municipal Securities Information Repository

The Commission requested comment on whether the term "NRMSIR" should be defined in Rule 15c2-12, and whether, specific standards should be established for NRMSIRs. If standards were to be established in the rule, the Commission requested comment on whether proposed standards set forth in the release were adequate.(152) The majority of state-based information gatherers and disseminators, and other NRMSIRs that addressed the issue of defining the term "NRMSIR" supported maintaining the guidelines already established by the commission in the 1989 Release.(153) After reviewing the comment letters, the Commission has determined that the guidance established in the 1989 Release for NRMSIRs should be modified only as necessary to reflect the amendments to Rule 15c2-12. In determining whether a particular entity is a NRMSIR the Commission will now consider, among other things, whether the repository:

(1) is national in scope;

(2) maintains(154) current, accurate(155) information about municipal offerings in the form of official statements, and annual financial information, notices of material events, and notices of a failure to provide annual financial information undertaken to be provided in accordance with Rule 15c2-12;

(3) has effective retrieval and dissemination system;

(4) places no limits on the persons from which it will accept official statements, and annual financial information, notices of material events, and notices of a failure to provide annual financial information undertaken to be provided in accordance with Rule 15c2-12;

(5) provides access to the documents deposited with it to anyone willing and able to pay the applicable fees; and

(6) charges reasonable fees.

While NRMSIRs may charge reasonable fees(156) for the dissemination of information, they may not charge issuers for accepting information provided by issuers in accordance with Rule 15c2-12.(157) In response to cones raised by commenters, the Commission also notes that giving preferential treatment to certain brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers by giving them market information before it is made available to all customers would be wholly inconsistent with recognition as a NRMSIR.(158)

Comment also was requested on the ability and willingness of both potential NRMSIRs, and those presently operating under no-action letters, to meet the dissemination standards discussed in the Proposing Release. NRMSIRs responded that they can meet these standards.(159) In order to implement these standards, the Commission has determined that existing NRMSIRs should reapply for recognition from the Commission under the revised criteria to continue to function as NRMSIRs.

3. State information Depositories

The Commission also requested comment on whether a state-based depository could serve as an effective means to disseminate information to the market for a nationally traded security, thus enabling the appropriate parties to fulfill their disclosure obligations using a state-based depository. Commenters expressed divergent views on this issue.(160) No state responded directly in response to the Commission's request for comment on whether states are willing to make the the necessary financial commitment to create a state-based system. The Comptroller of the State of New York pointed out, however, that his office already collects financial data from local governments, and that there "is an appropriate and important function which the states may perform in the secondary market disclosure process."(161) A number of third party state-based information collectors also stated that they were in the process of creating state-based repositories.(162) Other such third party state-based information collectors pointed out that they already had working depositories in place.(163)

Based on these comments, and in light of existing disclosure mechanisms and recent legislation in several states designed to enhance secondary market disclosure,(164) it appears that states can play a beneficial role in enhancing disclosure in the municipal securities market.(165) State-based depositories will be in a special relationship with filers of disclosure information to provide for convenient and efficient dissemination. The Commission therefore encourages states to develop state-based depositories.

To encourage the development of state-based depositories, the Commission has amended Rule 15c2-12 to require that Participating Underwriters reasonably determine that the information undertaken to be provided, in addition to being submitted to the NRMSIRs, or, in some cases, to the MSRB, will be submitted to a state information depository ("SID"), if an appropriate SID has been established in that state. Further, as discussed below,(166) an exemption conditioned on making annual financial information available upon request or to a SID, and providing notices of material events to each NRMSIR or the MSRB, and t, a SID, has been adopted. An appropriate SID would be a depository operated or designated(167) by the state that receives information from all issuers within the state, and makes this information available promptly to the public on a contemporaneous basis.(168) The Commission staff is prepared to provide guidance in particular instances regarding a SID's qualification for purposes of the rule.

4. Information Delivery Requirements

The Proposing Release asked to whom the required information should be delivered. It also requested comment on the feasibility of requiring NRMSIRs to inform the MSRB when they receive disclosure information from issuers, and whether such information also should be required to be placed with the MSRB, in addition to or in lieu of a NRMSIR. The NRMSIRs did not address the issue of requiring them to inform the MSRB whenever they received disclosure information from an issuer, although one commenter argued that designating the MSRB as a repository only would add an unnecessary layer to the dissemination process.(169) Other commenters suggested designating a single central repository.(170) Similarly, some commenters suggested imposing a requirement that disclosure information be delivered to all, NRMSIRs,(171) while others suggested that NRMSIRs, be required to share the information received with other NRMSIRs,(172) and a third group preferred the establishment of a central index.(173) State-based information gatherers and disseminators had diverging views on this issue.(174)

Based on these comments, the Commission has determined to require that annual financial information undertaken to be provided be deposited with each NRMSIR and the appropriate SID in the issuer's state. Any audited financial statements submitted in accordance with the undertakings also must be delivered to each NRMSIR and to the SID in the issuer's state. if such a depository has been established. The requirement to have annual financial information and audited financial statements delivered to all NRMSIRs and the appropriate SID is a modification of the Proposed Amendments. This modification will ensure that all NRMSIRs receive disclosure information directly. It also permits the Commission to adopt the amendments without a delay for the creation of a central index or a system of information sharing among NRMSIRs.(175) The requirement to send information to all NRMSIRs rather than a single NRMSIR of the issuer's or obligated person's choice, should not impose significant burdens or costs, other than duplication and mailing costs. Furthermore this requirement to deliver disclosure to the NRMSIRs and the appropriate SID also allays the anti-competitive concerns raised by the creation of a single NRMSIR.

In contrast to annual financial information, under the amendments, notices of material events, as well as notices of a failure by an issuer or other obligated person to provide annual financial information must be delivered to each NRMSIR or the MSRB, and the appropriate SID. The Commission is of the view that permitting issuers and obligated persons to file such notices either with each NRMSIR or with the MSRB (as well as the appropriate, SID) will facilitate prompt and wide, disclosure. The amendments reflect the preference of some commenters for filing such notices in one central place, such the MSRB, rather than having to file with multiple NRMSIRs. The Commission expects that if notices are filed with the MSRB, the MSRB will make these notices available to all NRMSIRs on a prompt and contemporaneous basis.

5. Timing of Dissemination

Due to the time sensitive nature of notices of material event and failures to provide annual financial statements, it is important that such notices are disseminated quickly. These market requirements will dictate that disseminators have a system in place by which information vendors can make such notices available to broker-dealers and investors quickly and contemporaneously.

NRMSIRs and other information vendors have indicated in their comment letters that under certain circumstances a 15 minute-turnaround(176) time for notices of material events, and a 24 hour turnaround period for annual financial information may be feasible, and, in some instances, already is in place.(177) Nonetheless, because the ultimate scope of the information undertakings was not known to the existing and potential NRMSIRs at the time they submitted their comments, the Commission intends to discuss with the NRMSIRs during the recognition process appropriate and practicable turnaround standards for information re-dissemination. Because SIDs are alternative sources of information for every type of disclosure, the Commission does not intend to impose strict turnaround times for SIDs. Instead, SIDs should provide the Commission and users with a clear statement of turnaround times that they will meet consistently.

6. Technological Considerations

The Commission also received many suggestions from information gatherers and vendors on streamlining the filing of disclosure information. These suggestions included requiring electronic filing of disclosure information, providing filings on computer disks and providing information to NRMSIRs as images of original source documents rather than exclusively as coded text.(178) Rather than dictate standards, the Commission encourages municipal securities market participants to coordinate their requirements and preferences on an industry-wide basis.

D. Exemptions

The Proposed Amendments contained two new exceptions, which are being adopted with certain modifications. A third new exemption from the annual financial information requirement, for short-term securities, also is being adopted. In addition, Rule 15c2-12's limitation to primary offerings of municipal securities with an aggregate principal amount of $1,000,000 or more and its existing exemptions, also apply to the amendments.(179)

1. Small issuer Exemption

The Proposed Amendment would have exempted from the provisions of the undertaking and recommendation prohibitions of the rule municipal securities issued in Offerings by issuers that had (i) less than $10,000.000 in principal amount of securities outstanding, including the offered securities and (ii) issued less than $3,000,000 in aggregate amount of municipal securities in the most recent 48-months preceding the offering.

A number of commenters discussed the appropriateness of the proposed dollar exemption, with comments ranging from a call for increased thresholds to no thresholds at all.(180) Some commenters believed that the thresholds should be increased, because many small municipalities would exceed these thresholds if they delay their financings in order to issue a greater amount of bonds at one time. The commenters argued that these are small, infrequent issuers with limited trading in the secondary market and the cost of compliance would outweigh the benefits received from improved secondary market disclosure.(181)

Other commenters took exception to the proposed thresholds because they were too high. These commenters argued that the exemption as proposed would exclude from coverage of the rule the types of issuers who have historically had deficient disclosure practices and disproportionate numbers of defaults.(182) A number commenters also argued that the $3 million/48 month component of the threshold was too complex.(183)

As adopted,(184) the exemption retains the aggregate $10,000,000 limitation, but eliminates the $3,000,000 threshold. Instead, in addition to failing under the $10,000,000 in outstanding securities threshold, the exemption is conditioned upon an issuer or obligated person providing limited disclosure undertaking. Under this undertaking, financial information and operating data concerning each obligor for which financial information or operating data is presented in the final official statement, must be provided upon request to any person, or be provided at least annually to the appropriate SID. The underlying would specify the type of financial information and operating data that will be made available annually, which must include financial information and operating data that is customarily prepared by the obligated person and is publicly available. The final official statement must describe where and how the financial information and operating data can be obtained.

Financial information and operating data of governmental issuers generally are subject to freedom of information laws, and thus would be publicly available for purposes of this condition of the exemption. Conduit borrowers generally provide annual financial information to trustees, credit enhancers, or the financing agency that issued the municipal securities, and thus would have no difficulty complying with this standard if that information is made publicly available. To the extent that an obligated person does not currently publicly disclose that information, they are free to specify the type of information they are underlying to provide on an ongoing basis. but they must agree to provide some information. That information need not be the same type of information presented in the official statement. Nor would these exempt persons have to release their audited financial statements, unless they otherwise customarily prepare and make their audited financial statements publicly available. Moreover, the limited disclosure undertaking need only over those obligors for which financial information or operating data is provided in the official statement.

In addition to providing financial information and operating data annually, notices of material events must be sent to each NRMSIR or to the MSRB, and the appropriate SID. This public information condition has been adopted in response to comments highlighting the need for information regarding small issuers accessing the public debt market.(185)

The threshold of $10,000,000 has been retained, notwithstanding comments that it was too high or too low. According to statistics provided by one commenter,(186) in 1993, 71% of the approximately 52,000 municipal issuers had under $10,000,000 in outstanding municipal securities. Accordingly, the amendments as proposed already provided significant exemptive relief for small issuers. Indeed, the fact that a majority of issuers fall below that threshold supports conditioning the exemption on a commitment to provide a limited mount of secondary market information from exempt issuers. Even with that condition, a significant percentage of offerings would remain totally exempt from the amendments as adopted, because over 20% of the total issuances in 1993 were under $1,000,000.(187) As these statistics demonstrate, the exemption should exclude a large percentage of small infrequent issuers.

Commenters also questioned how the aggregate thresholds were measured, including whose securities would be included and whether the exemption applied only to outstanding securities that were sold in Offerings subject to the rule.(188) Many commenters indicated that the thresholds should be separately applied to each issuer of municipal securities and each underlying obligor.(189) Thus, in the case of conduit issuers that have no liability on the municipal securities, commenters argued that the thresholds should be determined by reference to the persons who are the beneficiaries of the financing.(190) Some commenters argued that those issuers that had different types of financings that relied on separate revenue streams for repayment, such as dedicated tax revenues, should not be foreclosed from relying on the small issuer exemption for each financing.(191)

To address the first of these concerns, the amendments have been revised to clarify that the availability of the exemption turns on the amount of outstanding municipal securities for which an issuer or obligated person also is an obligated person. An issuer of municipal securities would need to satisfy the threshold only if it were an obligated person with respect to the security being offered. Under this approach, if a financing agency that is offering obligations that have some recourse to the agency, only those outstanding securities of the agency that likewise are recourse would count toward the threshold. If the financing agency does not issue recourse securities, the exemption will be unavailable only if a conduit borrower obligated on the municipal securities being offered is an obligated person with respect to more than $10,000,000 in outstanding municipal securities. If any one obligated person in an Offering exceeds the threshold, then the entire Offering, including all obligated persons, will be subject to the rule. Subsequent non-recourse offerings by the financing agency would not be affected, but would be subject to a similar test.

With respect to the second concern, however, the amendments require that an obligated person aggregate all its out standing obligations, even if some are payable from separate dedicated revenue sources. For example, a city or county that issues securities for a number of different purposes could not qualify as a small and infrequent issuer merely because its outstanding securities are payable from separate revenue streams. Thus, while a governmental issuer's outstanding obligations need not be aggregated with that of non-governmental obligated persons, a governmental issuer could not avoid aggregation of its securities by restricting repayment to separate revenue streams.(192)

Commenters also discussed a related issue of what securities would be included in the calculation. Commenters contended that only publicly offered securities should be included in the calculation. Other commenters questioned how short-term obligations such as bond anticipation notes, refunded bond, and installment/lease purchase agreements would be treated. Several commenters suggested that the threshold should be measured only against publicly offered, long-term bonds.(193)

The amendments have been clarified in this respect to exclude from the threshold calculation securities that were offered in transactions exempt from Rule 15c2-12 because they were otherwise exempt as private placements and short-term financings. In addition, to the extent that an issuer or obligated person is no longer liable for repayment on bonds, as with certain defeased bonds, then such bond, would not be included in the calculation of the threshold for such issuer or obligated person.

A number of commenters indicated that an exemption should be available based on the number of holders of the municipal securities.(194) However, in accordance with concerns voiced by other commenters regarding the difficulty in ascertaining the number of holders due to the fact that most municipal securities are held in street name through a very limited number of depositories,(195) the amendments do not adopt any exemption based on the number of holders of the municipal securities.

A variety of other comments were raised relating to exemptions, and a number of alternative exemptions were proposed, including exemptions based on the type of issuer or the existence of an investment grade rating.(196) Commenters also believed that an exemption should be available for securities covered by bond insurance or other credit enhancement, such as bank letters of credit.(197) Except as described above, the exemptions have not been revised to adopt these suggestions. Commenters, including some bond insurance providers,(198) expressed the view that the existence of credit enhancement does not necessarily eliminate the need for information regarding the underlying credit.

A number of commenters also argued that new exemptions should be added that would mirror exemptions under the Securities Act.(199) Some commenters argued that exemptions should be included for non-profit entities that would have their own exemption from registration under the Securities Act.(200) The Commission is not including any exclusion in the amendment, for any such issuers. Issuers accessing the tax-exempt public securities markets have obligations to promote the integrity nd efficiency of those markets. As de Commission noted in the Interpretive Release, the high level of defaults in sectors such as healthcare, lifecare, retirement homes and multifamily housing, relative to other market sectors,(201) and the past problems with the sufficiency of information in many of these sectors, weighs heavily against adopting such exclusions.

2. Exemption From the Annual Financial Information Requirement For Short-term Securities

A new exemption has been added to exempt from the requirement for an undertaking calling for annual financial information, Offerings of securities with an 18 month or shorter maturity.(202) The new exemption is in response to comments suggesting that the rule not require annual financial information in situations where the securities would mature shortly after, or possibly even before, the annual financial information would be due.(203) The provisions of the amended rule relating to notices of material events, however, would apply to these Offerings absent some other Rule 15c2-12 exemption.

3. Exemptions From the Recommendation Prohibition

The Proposed Amendments also included a new exemption,(204) which would have permitted the recommendation in the secondary market of securities that were not subject to the underwriting prohibition, either because they were sold in a primary offering(205) of municipal securities with an aggregate principal amount of less than $1,000,000, or came within the existing exemptions for limited placements, short-term securities, and securities with demand features(206), or within the new exemption for small, infrequent issuers.(207) This exemption has been adopted as proposed, with the exception that securities sold in an exempt Offering that is subject to the limited undertaking condition,201 are not exempt from the application of the recommendation prohibition. Pursuant to this element of the ma issue, exemption dealers must have in place procedures to receive notices of material events.(210)

4. Transactional Exemption

The existing Rule 15c2-12 transactional exemption(211) permits the Commission to exempt any Participating Underwriter from any requirement of the rule. Because Rule 15c2-12, as amended, places requirements on brokers dealers, and municipal securities dealers in the secondary market, the transactional exemption has been amended to clarify that the Commission has exemptive authority with respect to both Participating Underwriters, in connection with Offerings, and with respect to brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers recommending transaction, in the secondary market.(212)

E. Transitional Provision

The rule as amended contains a transitional provision for the amendments to Rule 15c2-12.(213) The underwriting prohibition applies to a Participating Underwriter that has contractually committed to act as an underwriter in an Offering on or after the effective date of the rule, July 3, 1995; provided that issuers need not undertake to provide annual financial information for fiscal years ending prior to January 1, 1996. The recommendation prohibition will become effective on January 1, 1996. the Commission is of the view that this delay of six month, beyond the effective date of the amendment relating to the underwriting of municipal securities is sufficient to permit participants in the municipal securities market to design procedures for compliance with the provisions of Rule 15c2-12. Brokers, dealers and municipal securities dealers must, therefore, have procedures in place to comply with the recommendation prohibition on or before January 1, 1996. Finally, the limited undertaking condition to the small issuer exemption need not be satisfied for offerings commencing prior to January 1, 1996.

III. Effects on Competition And Regulatory Flexibility Act Considerations

Section 23(a)(2) of the Exchange Act(214) requires the Commission, in adopting rules under the Act, to consider the anticompetitive effects of those rules, if any, and to balance that impact against the regulatory benefits gained in terms of furthering the purposes of the Exchange Act. The Commission has considered the amendments to Rule 15c2-12 in light of the standard cited in Section 23(a)(2) and believes the adoption of the amendments will not impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the Exchange Act.

In addition, the Commission has prepared a final regulatory flexibility analysis ("FRFA"), pursuant to the requirements of the Regulatory Flexibility Act(215) regarding the proposed amendments to Rule 15c2-12. The Commission requested comment on the extent to which cent practice deviates from the requirements of the proposed amendments, and the extent to which additional costs may be imposed on small issuers, brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers if the amendments are adopted as proposed. The FRFA indicates that the amendments to the rule could impose some additional costs on small broker-dealers and municipal issuers. Nonetheless, the Commission is of the view that many of the substantive requirements of the amendments already are observed, absent access to the continuing information provided by the amendments, by issuers, brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers as a matter of business practice, or to fulfill their existing obligations under the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. To the extent that the Proposed Amendments would have imposed additional costs on small issuers, brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers, in response to commenters' concerns, the Commission has modified the amendments as described.

A copy of the FRFA may be obtained from Janet W. Russell-Hunter, Attorney, Office of Chief Counsel, Division of Market Regulation, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Mail Stop 7-10, Washington, D.C. 20549,(202) 942-0073.

(136) See Letter of PSA (noting that paragraph (c) would require dealers to create records showing that they had reviewed municipal securities). (137) See, e.g., Letter, of Chapman and Cutler, (brokers with fewer, analysis will be at a competitive disadvantage); Letter of Morgan Stanley (noting that in order to comply with paragraph (c) as proposed, reliance on third-party service providers for information analysis would be required.) (138) See. e.g., Joint Response; Letter of PSA; Letter of Gabriel, Hueglin & Cashman. (139) See, e.g., Joint Response; Letter of PSA. (140) Letter of Investment Comply Institute ("IC"). See also Letter MSRB; Letter of NABL. NABL suggested disclosure by dealers as to whether a party has committed to provide secondary market disclosure, and if not the consequences of investing in the securities. (141) See, e.g., Letter of Edward D. Jones & Co. (suggesting application of the Proposed Amendments only to non-rated or special assessment bonds); Letter of NABL (suggesting exemptions from the amendments to Rule 15c2-12 for issuers that obtain and maintain an investment grade rating, and for general obligation bonds and revenue bonds issued to finance essential government purposes). (142) See, e.g., Letter of PSA; Letter of A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc. (reviewing issuer's disclosure is not the only way to form the basis for a recommendation). (143) As noted in the Proposing Release most situations in which a dealer brings a municipal security to the attention of a customer involve an implicit recommendation of the security to the customer. (144) See, e.g., Letter of MSRB (emphasizing that, in the Board's view, dealers would be responsible for continuing disclosure information available in NRMSIRs even without the specific "review" requirement); Letter of Paine Webber. (145) Letter of MSRB (noting the requirements of the MSRB's rules in commenting that the Proposed Amendment's requirement to review periodic information is not a practical option for dealers). (146) See Rule 15c2-12(b)(5)(i)(D) (147) See MSRB Manual (CCH) [paragraph] 358.30 (interpreting MSRB rule-G17 to require that a dealer disclose, at or prior to a sale, all material facts concerning the transaction, including a complete description of the security). See also 1988 Release at n. 50 and accompanying text. (148) Under Rule 15c2-12(b)(4), underwriters must deliver final official statements to potential customers for a 90 day period after the close of the underwriting period. The underwriters' 90 day delivery obligation is shortened to 25 days if the final official statement can be obtained from a NRMSIR. (149) Since the Commission adopted Rule 15c2-12, the Division of Market Regulations issued three no-action letters recognizing national information vendors as NRMSIRs, based on the standards set out in the July 1989 Release. See letters from Richard G. Ketchum, Director, Division of Market Regulation to: Joseph V. Ricobono, Executive Vice-President, American Banker-Bond Buyer (Jan. 4, 1990); J. Kevin Kenny, President, Chief Executive Officer, J.J. Kenny Co. (Jan. 4, 1990); and Michael R. Bloomberg, President, Bloomberg, L.P. (Jan. 11, 1990). Recently, the Commission has received inquiries from additional information vendors desiring to be recognized as NRMSIRs. (150) NRMSIRs are not the only source of information in the municipal market. The MSRB has developed its Municipal Securities Information Library ("MSIL") system, which presently collects information and dissemenates it to market participants and information vendors. The Official Statement and Advance Refunding Document - Paper Submission System ("QS/ARD") of the MSIL collects and makes available on magnetic tape and on paper official statements and advance refunding notices. Securities Exchange Act Release no. 29298 (June 13, 1991), 56 FR 28194. As a part of the MSIL system, the MSRB commenced operation of its continuing Disclose Information ("CDI") pilot system in January, 1993. The CDI system is a central repository for voluntarily submitted official continuing disclosure documents relating to outstanding municipal securities issues. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 30556 (April 6, 1992) 57 FR 12534. Neither the MSIL QS/ARD system nor the CDI system is a NRMSIR; the Commission has previously indicated that it would consider the competitive implications of a MSRB request for NRMSIR status. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 28081 (June 1, 1990)m 55 FR 23333, 23337 n.26. (151) See, e.g., Letter of PSA (noting that the suggestion made by some market participants that municipal securities dealers will not utilize information they have long sought is implausible). Letter of Ferris Baker Watts (information will be used if it is available). (152) The Commission suggested that NRMSIRs (a) maintain current, accurate information about municipal securities, including final official statements, the issuer's annual final information, and issuer's notices of material events; (b) have effective systems for the timely collection, indexing, storage and retrieval of these documents; and (c) be capable of national dissemination of final official statements, annual financial information and notices of material events though electronic dissemination systems, in response to telephone inquiries, and hard copy delivery via facsimile, by mail and by messenger service. The Commission also stressed the importance of timely public availability upon receipt of information by a NRMSIR. (153) See, e.g., Letter of Bloomberg L.P.; Letter of Cypress Capital Corp. (a dealer chosen by the Louisiana Municipal Association to assist it in developing a repository to collect and disseminate information on Louisiana issuers of municipal securities). In discussing NRMSIRs in the 1989 Release, the Commission noted that in determining whether a particularly entity is a NRMSIR, it would look, among other things, at whether the repository: (1) is national in scope; (2) maintains current, accurate information about municipal offerings in the form of official statements; (3) has effective retrieval and dissemination systems; (4) places no limit on the issuers from which it will accept official statements or related information; (5) provides access to the documents deposited with it to anyone willing and able to pay the applicable fees; and (6) charges reasonable fees. See 1989 Release at n. 65. (154) In the past, the Division of Market Regulation has required that each NRMSIR maintain copies of all disclosure documents. In view of recent requests from information collectors and disseminators, the Division of Market Regulation will review, on a case by case basis, NRMSIR proposals to satisfy the requirement to maintain copies of disclosure documents through a contract with another entity (including the MSRB) that will maintain copies. See Letters from Laurence M. Landau, Vice President, Dow Jones Telerate, to Elizabeth MacGregor, Division of Market Regulation, SEC, (July 18, 1994) and to Gautam S. Gujral, division of Market Regulation, SEC (August 4, 1994). See also Letter of Storch & Brenner (on behalf of R.R. Donnelly Financial). This flexible approach, requested by industry participants may allow NRMSIRs to reduce the cost at which they can collect and disseminate disclosure information to broker-dealers and investors. (155) It should be noted that NRMSIRs are not being required to verify the accuracy of the information provided them. NRMSIRs are required to accurately convey the information provided to them. (156) See 1989 Release. (157) See, e.g., Letter of Maine Municipal Bond Bank; Letter of National Association of Independent Public Financial Advisers (NRMSIR costs). (158) See, e.g., Letter of Colonial Management Associates, Inc. (159) Letter of Bloomberg L.P.; Letter of J.J. Kenny Co.; Letter of the Bond Buyer. (160) With one notable exception, national information vendors generally did not see a need for state-based repositories and argued that state-based repositories would

indeed add to the complexity of collecting and disseminating information. See, e.g., Letter of J.J. Kenny Co. Some state-based information gatherers and disseminators, however, argued that they already had created mechanisms for the collection and dissemination of information, and their systems are working well. The National Association of the State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers ("NASACT") pointed out that issuers and other obligors will probably file with state-based repositories, with whom they are accustomed to working and with whom they typically must file in any event for regulatory purposes unrelated to secondary market disclosure. NASACT argued that while the state repositories do not wish to compete with NRMSIRs, state-based repositories can serve an important role in enhancing the accessibility of disclosure information for repackaging by the MRMSIRs. See Letter of NASACT. (161) See Letter of the Office of the State Comptroller, State of New York. (162) See, e.g., Letter of Cypress Capital Corporation (Louisiana Municipal Security Disclosure Board "intends to be in a position to comply with the standards developed by the Commission for NRMSIRs") (163) See Letter of Municipal Advisory Council of Texas; Letter of Ohio Municipal Advisory Council. (164) South Carolina recently enacted legislation requiring issuers to agree in a bond indenture to file an annual independent audit within a specific number of days of the issuer's receipt thereof and certain event information with a central repository. South Carolina Senate Bill 1182, (effective September 1, 1994) to be codified in S.C. Code Ann. Chapter 1, Title 11, Section 11-85 (1976). Similarly, Tennessee recently adopted legislation authorizing the adoption of rules to facilitate secondary market disclosure by any public entity, including the form and content of that disclosure. Tenn. Code Ann. Sec. 9-21-151(a) and (b)(2). (165) See, e.g., Letter of the Office of the State Comptroller, State of New York. (166) See Section II.D.1. infra. (167) There is no requirement that SIDs be instrumentalities of a state. A number of private organizations already function as state-based repositories, at times at no cost to the taxpayer. The Commission defers to each state's determination whether to have a private or public entity be its SID. (168) As with NRMSIRs, for a SID to give preferential treatment to a NRMSIR by giving it market information before it is made available to other NRMSIRs would be wholly inconsistent with functioning as a SID. (169) Letter of Bloomberg L.P. (170) See, e.g., Artemis Capital Group, Ltd. (proposing that the Commission designate the MSRB's MSIL system as the single central repository); Letter of Chapman and Cutler (there should be one central source of information). (171) See, e.g., Letter of J.J. Kenny Co.; Letter of National Association of Independent Public Financial Advisers. (172) See, e.g., Letter of MSRB; Letter of Richard A. Ciccarone. (173) Letter of Storch & Brenner (on behalf of R.R. Donnelly Financial); Letter of The Bond Buyer. (174) The Ohio Municipal Advisory Council stated that it is feasible to require repositories to inform the MSRB as to which issuers have released information to it. Under Cypress Capital Corporation's proposal, the indexing party would receive descriptions of all materials received by the Lousiana Repository. But see, Letter of NASACT (requirement that a repository be required to notify a central index each time an item of information is received by the repository is undully burdensome and unnecessary). (175) Some commenters expressed an interest in creating a central index and an information sharing system. Letter of Storch & Brenner (on behalf of R.R. Donnelly Financial); Letter of Dow Jones Telerate, Inc. The Commission is prepared to review such mechanisms for centralized collection and dissemination if requested to do so. (176) The Commission considers "turnaround time" or "turnaround period" to mean the time between which a NRMSIR initially receives information, and the time when such information is made available to the public. NRMSIRs will be required to make available the full text of notices of material events, and post the receipt and availability of other documents within the designated turnaround time period. (177) The Bond Buyer stated that it broadcasts, through its Munifacts News product, material events and time critical announcements within 15 minutes of their receipt to municipal market participants throughout the country. It stated that it also posts documents within 24 hours of a document's receipt to the Bond Buyer's Online Index which is updated throughout the day. Letter of the Bond Buyer. Similarly, Dow Jones Telerate stated that electronic dissemination will allow the turnaround time of 24 hours for an official statement and 15 minutes for secondary disclosure documents on material events to be feasible. Letter of Dow Jones Telerate. Material information is electronically disseminated on a "real time" basis by Bloomberg L.P. Letter of Bloomberg L.P. (178) J.J. Kenny Co. requested that documents be required to be filed as images of original source documents rather than exclusively as coded text. Dow Jones Telerate requested that Official statements be filed along with one electronic disk copy of the original Word Processing\Desktop publishing file with the label market as to which software and version was used. For secondary market disclosure documents, Telerate advises using the NFMA proposed worksheets. The Bond Buyer stated that "collection would be most efficient if documents were in ASCII and a common word processing or publishing format." (179) Former paragraph (c) of Rule 15c2-12 was proposed to be, and has been redesignated as paragraph (d)(1). This paragraph exempts primary offerings of municipal securities in authorized denominations of $100,000 or more, if such securities: (1) are sold to no more than 35 investors, each of whom the underwriter reasonably believes is capable of evaluating the investment and who is not purchasing with a view to distribution; (2) have a maturity of nine months or less or; (3) at the option of the holder may be tendered to an issuer at least as frequently as every nine months. (180) See, e.g., Letter of ALHFA; Letter of CDFA; Letter of NFMSA; Letter of National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors; letter of Prudential Investment Corp.; Letter of PSA; Letter of Washington State Auditor. (181) see, e.g., Letter of NAST; Letter of SIA. (182) See, e.g., Letter of Chemical Securities; Letter of Eaton Vance Management; Letter of Edward D. Jones & Co.; Letter of Morgan Stanley; Letter of National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors; Letter of Norwest Investment Services. (183) See, e.g., Letter of APPA; Letter of The Bank of New York; Joint Response. (184) See Rule 15c2-12(d)(2). (185) See Joint Response. A number of other commenters expressed concern about the lack of information on issuers in market segments in which the higher proportion of defaults have occurred. See note 182, supra and accompanying text. The effective date for this information undertaking condition on the small issuer exemption will be delayed until January 1, 1996. See Section II. E., infra. (186) See Letter of the Bond Buyer. (187) See Letter of Bond Buyer. The requirements of Rule 15c-12, as amended, may not be avoided by breaking up an offering into several offerings of less than $10,000,000, where the offerings are of the same class of securities and are for the same purpose. (188) See, e.g., Letter of ABA Urban Law Section; Letter of CIFA; Letter of Colorado Municipal Bond Supervision Advisory Board. (189) See, e.g., Letter of ALHFA; Letter of CDFA; Letter of Hawkins Delafield & Wood. (190) See, e.g., Letter of Alaska Municipal Bond Bank; Letter of Bose, McKinney & Evans; Letter of CDFA; Letter of Oregon Economic Development Department. (191) See e.g.

, Letter of ABA Business Law Section; Letter of Chapman and Cutler; Letter of NABL. (192) Significant indicia of whether an issuer in a revenue-type financing is in fact a part or a larger municipality would be whether the issuer's accounts are reflected in the municipality's financial statements and whether the municipality's officials or personnel manage the separate financing programs. (193) See, e.g., Letter of ABA Business Law Section; Letter of Day Berry & Howard; Joint Response; Letter of Kutak Rock; Letter of the Treasurer of the State of North Carolina. (194). See, e.g., letter of ABA Business Law Section; Letter of Kutak Rock; Letter of Mudge Rose; Letter of National League of Cities. (195) See, e.g., Letter of Bank One Corporation; Letter of Reliance Trust Company. (196) See, e.g., Letter of ICI; Letter of McDonald & Company Securities; Letter of NABL; Letter of National League of Cities; Letter of NFMA; Letter of New York Dormitory Authority; Letter of Putnam Investment Management; Letter of State of Utah, Office of the State Treasurer, Letter of State of Washington, Office of the State Treasurer. (197) See, e.g., Letter of Delaware County Industrial Development Authority; Letter of Financial Security Assurance; Letter of McNair & Sanford; Letter of Smith, Gambrell & Russell. (198) As some commenters indicated, the existence of credit enhancement or other programmatic enhancement features does not eliminate the need for information on underlying obligated persons, particularly where there is a long term guarantee, because of the potential impact of a default on the pricing of the securities. See Letter of Kutak Rock on behalf of Financial Guaranty Insurers; Letter of FGIC; Letter of Prudential Investment Corp. See also Securities and Exchange Commission, Report by the Securities and Exchange Commission on the Financial Guaranty Market: The Use of the Exemption In Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act for Securities Guaranteed by Banks and the Use of Insurance Policies to Guarantee Debt Securities (August 28, 1987). (199) See, eg., Letter of ABA Business Law Section; Letter of Goldman Sachs; Letter of Morgan Stanley; Letter of Mudge Rose; Letter of Thacher Proffitt & Wood. (200) See, e.g., Letter of Morgan Stanley; Letter of Mudge Rose; Letter of New York Dormitory Authority. (201) Interpretive Release at Section III.D. See also Letter of The Bond Buyer. (202) Rule 15c2-12(d)(3). (203) See, e.g., letter of ABA Urban Law Section; Letter of Chemical Securities; Letter of Day, Berry & Howard; Letter of Kutak Rock; Letter of Maryland Department of Economic and Employment Development. (204) See paragraph (d)(3) of the Proposed Amendments. (205) This exemption has been modified to clarify that the recommendation prohibition will not apply to primary or secondary market trading where municipal securities are exempt at the time of their original issuance. Several commenters noted that the inclusion of the term "a primary offering of" created confusion, based on the stated purpose of the exemption in the Proposing Release. See, e.g., Letter of Kutak Rock; Letter of ABA Urban Law Section; Letter of Colorado Municipal Bond Supervision Advisory Board; Letter of Day, Berry & Howard. The exemption has been modified to delete that term, thus giving the exemption its intended meaning. (206) See paragraph (d)(1) of the Proposed Amendments. (207) See paragraph (d)(2) of the Proposed Amendments. (208) Rule 15c2-12(d)(4). (209) See Rule 15c2-12(d)(2)(ii). (210) See Rule 15c2-12(b)(5)(i)(C). (211) Former paragraph (d) of Rule 15c2-12. (212) The transactional exemption also has been redesignated as paragraph (e) of Rule 15c2-12. (213) See Rule 15c2-12(g). (214) 15 U.S.C. 78w(a)(2). (215) 5 U.S.C. 604.

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