[ by Howard Haykin ]

The SEC announced that it will host on 4/16/13, a roundtable discussion on potential ways to improve the transparency and efficiency of fixed income markets.  The focus will be on the corporate bond market and the municipal securities market, both of which were addressed in the Commission's July 2012 report.  The event will be held at SEC Headquarters in Washington, D.C..  It will be open to the public and, for those who can't attend in person, a live webcast will be available on the SEC’s website. 

"As regulators, we must continually work to enhance the quality of the fixed income markets, which are critical to the U.S. economy,” said SEC Chairman Elisse Walter. “We’ve already taken a step in that direction by issuing a report last summer on the municipal securities market and this roundtable will be another step forward.”  -  SEC Chairman Elisse Wlater.

Besides helping the U.S. fixed income markets help finance the nation’s public infrastructure and private businesses,FI securities are important components of the investment portfolios of the American public.  Retail investors directly or indirectly hold more than 75% of the outstanding principal amount of municipal securities and 28% of the outstanding principal amount of corporate bonds.

The Commission’s 2012 Report on the Municipal Securities Market ...  made a variety of recommendations to improve pre-trade and post-trade price transparency and to strengthen brokers’ existing obligations to provide investors with best execution and fair pricing.  At the roundtable, there will be a forum for in-depth discussion of these and other ideas to enhance the municipal securities market as well as the extent to which those recommendations could be applied to the corporate bond market.

“I look forward to hearing the views of a wide range of knowledgeable market participants, investors, and others on how best to improve the transparency, efficiency and fairness of the fixed income markets and practical ways in which these ideas might be implemented.” -- Chairman Walter.
 

For further details, go to:   [ SEC PR 13-29, 2/27/13]     and     [ SEC Report on the Municipal Securities Market, 2012 ].