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BondMarkets Online: News From The Bond Market Association

September 2002

Municipal Bonds

Association Revises Cover Sheet for Municipal Disclosure Filings

In a move that will further improve the municipal securities market disclosure system, the Association has revised the generic Cover Sheet used for municipal securities market disclosure filings. The Cover Sheet is intended to be used when making either voluntary or required filings of secondary market information submitted by or on behalf of issuers to nationally recognized municipal securities information repositories (NRMSIRs), state information depositories (SIDs) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB).

    The Cover Sheet has been updated to accept both voluntary filings and required filings pursuant to SEC Rule 15c2-12. In addition, contact information for the dissemination agent, the issuer and the obligor, if any, is requested. The revised form also allows for paper or electronic filing. The Cover Sheet is expected to be posted to the Web sites of various municipal market-related groups such as the Government Finance Officers Association, the National Association of Bond Lawyers and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts for downloading or for use in electronic filings, as well as on www.bondmarkets.com.

    A new section, “Other Secondary Market Information,” has been added to the Cover Sheet in order to accommodate other types of information, such as a Management’s Discussion and Analysis, which will become more commonplace with the introduction of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board’s (GASB) new financial reporting model, GASB Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements—and Management’s Discussion and Analysis—for State and Local Governments.

    The Cover Sheet also contains the telephone number of the Municipal Disclosure Assistance Line, which can be used to obtain the CUSIP numbers for the securities to which the filing applies.

    Other changes were mostly stylistic, with the goal of allowing a clerk or someone not familiar with the substance of the filing to fill out the Cover Sheet.

    The Cover Sheet was initially developed by the Association’s Task Force on Electronic Information Delivery in an attempt to improve the municipal secondary market disclosure system. Revisions to the Cover Sheet were made with significant input from market participants and the NRMSIRs.

    For more information, contact Lynnette Hotchkiss, Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel, at 212.440.9407.