SEC Office of Municipal Securities Updates FAQs for Registration of Municipal Advisors

What Changed

• - The FAQs now provide targeted guidance for public‑private partnership (P3) market participants on when their activities in structuring or advising on P3 financings constitute municipal advisory activity requiring SEC municipal advisor registration
• The FAQs clarify for Form MA and Form MA‑I filers which remote work locations where municipal advisor‑related business is conducted must be disclosed as an “office,” affecting how firms classify and report distributed/remote work environments on regi
• The FAQs add staff views on the scope of recordkeeping requirements when a municipal advisor provides advice on the pricing of a new issue of municipal securities, reinforcing obligations under Exchange Act Rule 15Ba1‑8 and related MSRB recordkeeping
• A new FAQ explains how to register as a municipal advisor, directing prospective advisors (including sole proprietors) to an existing SEC staff Informational Bulletin and MSRB compliance resource that detail the step‑by‑step SEC and MSRB registration
• The SEC reiterates that the final municipal advisor registration rules adopted in 2013 remain in force and emphasizes that firms and individuals conducting municipal advisory activity should “come into compliance and register,” underscoring enforceme
• The update supplements earlier FAQ guidance on completion and timelines for Forms MA, MA‑I, and MA‑NR, aligning registration and disclosure expectations with prior FAQ sections on application, annual update, and amendment requirements.

Suggested Considerations

• Conduct a comprehensive assessment of public‑private partnership activities to determine whether any structuring, advisory, or financing work for state or local governments involves “municipal advisory activities” that trigger SEC municipal advisor registration requirements.
• Review all current and planned municipal advisory activities (including indirect advice through third‑party professionals) against the SEC’s municipal advisor definition, exclusions, and exemptions, and document registration determinations in a formal internal memo.
• Identify all locations, including employees’ remote and home offices, where municipal advisor‑related business is conducted, and update Form MA and Form MA‑I filings to ensure accurate disclosure of “offices” according to the new FAQ guidance.
• Review and, where necessary, update books‑and‑records policies and procedures to ensure that advice on pricing of new issues of municipal securities is fully captured, including communications, analyses, models, and recommendations, in line with SEC and MSRB recordkeeping standards.
• Establish or update onboarding and change‑management controls to ensure that new municipal advisory lines of business, new P3 mandates, or expansions into remote work arrangements are reviewed by compliance for municipal advisor registration and office‑reporting implications before launch.
• Train front‑office, public finance, and P3 transaction teams on the updated FAQs so that they understand when advisory input to municipal entities or obligated persons may be treated as municipal advisory activity requiring registration and enhanced recordkeeping.

Key Dates

Who is Affected