As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, signed into law by President Obama on July 21, 2010, Congress amended Section 15B(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to, among other things, make it unlawful for municipal advisors to provide certain advice or solicit municipal entities or certain other persons without registering with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, the SEC has adopted new Rule 15Ba2-6T under the Exchange Act as an interim final temporary rule. This new rule imposes a temporary registration process for municipal advisors and becomes effective on October 1, 2010, meaning that municipal advisors must be registered on that date in order to continue their municipal advisory services.
Section 15B(a)(1) of the Exchange Act, as amended by Section 975(a)(1)(B) of the Dodd-Frank Act, makes it unlawful for a municipal advisor to provide advice to or on behalf of a municipal entity or obligated person with respect to municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities, or to undertake a solicitation of a municipal entity or obligated person, unless the municipal advisor is registered with the SEC. Rule 15Ba2-6T provides a method for municipal advisors to temporarily satisfy the statutory registration requirement of Section 15B(a)(1) of the Exchange Act until the SEC has promulgated a final permanent registration program. The interim final temporary rule will expire on December 31, 2011.
A municipal advisor may temporarily satisfy the new registration requirement by submitting certain information electronically through the SEC’s public website on new Form MA-T. Because entry of information into Form MA-T will require establishing an account and securing access credentials (username and password), municipal advisors are advised to allow ample time to establish an account and obtain such credentials and complete the form before October 1, 2010.
On Form MA-T, a municipal advisor will indicate the purpose for which it is submitting the form (e.g., initial application for temporary registration), provide certain basic identifying and contact information concerning its business, indicate the nature of its municipal advisory activities, and supply information about its disciplinary history and the disciplinary history of its associated municipal advisor professionals.
