MSRB Requests Comment on Potential Initiative to Collect Pre-Trade Data

The MSRB requested comment on a potential initiative to enhance the transparency of the municipal securities market by collecting "pre-trade data for certain municipal securities from brokers, dealers, and municipal securities dealers and other entities."

In the concept release, the MSRB argued that "a phased-in pre-trade data initiative could set the stage to eventually benefit the overall market with free and broader access to information." The MSRB defined the pre-trade data "as live quote data (bid-side and offer-side) signaling prospective trading interest in specific municipal securities as well as bid-wanteds data and responses to bid-wanteds, also sometimes known as requests for quotes or RFQs."

The MSRB said that data could be collected from a sub-set of dealers (i.e. broker's brokers, Alternative Trading Systems registered as dealers, and/or some or all other dealers) as well as from other sources. The MSRB said its goal is "minimizing potential duplication of data collected and collecting data in the most effective and cost-efficient manner possible."

Comments are due by May 16, 2025