Which entity is NOT regulated by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB)?

• A. Municipal bank dealers
• B. Municipal brokers
• C. Municipal issuers
• D. Municipal dealers

Answer: (C)

The key idea is who the MSRB oversees. The MSRB regulates the people and firms that participate in the municipal securities market—specifically broker-dealers and banks that underwrite, trade, or advise on municipal bonds. That means municipal bank dealers, municipal brokers, and municipal dealers fall under MSRB rules because they are active market participants handling or advising on municipal securities.

Municipal issuers, on the other hand, are the state or local governments (or their authorities) that issue the bonds. They aren’t the firms conducting trading or underwriting, so they aren’t governed by MSRB rules. Their regulations come from other authorities and statutes, not the MSRB.

So the entity not regulated by the MSRB is municipal issuers.