MuniPriceTracker Announces Bond Compliance Services for the Municipal Bond Industry

    MINNEAPOLIS, MN, November 12, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The IRS is more interested than ever in verifying municipal bond pricing, particularly given the popularity of Build America Bonds and other bonds for which the federal government is responsible for paying direct tax subsidies to issuers. MuniPriceTracker offers issuers and bond counsels an efficient way to track the trading activity of all municipal bonds and to clearly demonstrate compliance with IRS regulations.

MuniPriceTracker announced the launch of a new service that will provide professionals in the municipal bond market with an automated system to track the trading of all municipal bonds. MuniPriceTracker was officially introduced at the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) 35th Bond Attorneys' Workshop held in San Antonio in late October. "We introduced MuniPriceTracker at the NABL Workshop because bond counsels are not just interested in, but often responsible for, ensuring that issuers' bonds are compliant with tax law requirements," said Erik Kelly, Senior Vice President. MuniPriceTracker is a web-based tracking system that follows the trading activity of municipal bonds and quickly determines if trading is in compliance with IRS regulations. MuniPriceTracker checks bond price and safe harbor thresholds on a daily basis and sends an email notification if trades fall outside IRS parameters. Early notification of non-compliant trading activity will give issuers and their bond counsels time to determine if trading activity is problematic and to remedy the situation prior to closing. MuniPriceTracker also performs a market comparison to identify whether premium trades can be explained by market movements. At bond closing, MuniPriceTracker will generate a comprehensive report of trading activity, typically from the sale date to the closing date of the bond issue, which can be used by issuers, bond counsels, and underwriters to demonstrate compliance with yield constraints, volume caps, or de minimis premiums.

The IRS can question or audit any municipal bond and look for unusual or unexplained price movements between the issuance date and the closing date. Additionally, the IRS is urging issuers to adopt post-issuance procedures for all tax-favored obligations, including tracking the secondary trading of bonds. According to Mr. Kelly, "We initially conceived and developed MuniPriceTracker in response to questions posed by the IRS on the trading of Build America Bonds in the secondary market, but it can be, and probably should be, used for all bonds, including tax-exempt and qualified private activity bonds. We believe that it will be a valuable tool for municipal market participants, especially issuers and bond counsels." MuniPriceTracker is committed to helping issuers or other market participants get the bond trading information they need to determine whether a bond issue was sold in compliance with existing regulations.

About MuniPriceTracker, LLC

MuniPriceTracker, LLC is a web-based data and technology firm that provides pricing transparency by monitoring bond trading activity. MuniPriceTracker was conceptualized as a tool for bond counsel, issuers, and issuer's counsel to ensure that an issuer's bonds meet the pricing and arbitrage rebate requirements established by the IRS regulations governing Build America Bonds, tax-exempt bonds, private activity bonds, and other governmental issues. MuniPriceTracker was created and is staffed by a group of professionals that have served the municipal bond market in various capacities, including financial advisors, investment bankers, underwriters, and fixed income traders. With 75 years of combined experience, they have worked on thousands of municipal transactions. MuniPriceTracker is an independent compliance and reporting service, and is not affiliated with any bank, dealer, or financial services provider.

For more information about MuniPriceTracker, visit http://www.munipricetracker.com or call (800) 723-3994.

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