The US Securities and Exchange Commission wants to create a database of information on municipal bonds for individual investors, according to the SEC and the Wall Street Journal.
The Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) database will offer free access to bond information, such as annual financial data and information about material events including downgrades or notices of default, that is currently only available through for-profit services.
“Anything that improves transparency in this incredibly volatile market is likely to help the borrower community,” Anne Phillips Ogilby, a lawyer who helps clients such as hospitals and universities raise money through the bond market, told the Journal. She said investors “are so distressed about the lack of current information that a transparent and user-friendly interface is going to be a great improvement.”