What is SEC Form MA?
SEC Form MA, or the Municipal Advisor Form, must be filed with the SEC by municipal advisors. A municipal advisor is a person who is not a municipal entity or an employee of a municipal entity providing advice to or on behalf of a municipal entity or obligated person, with respect to municipal financial products or the issuance of municipal securities, or that undertakes a solicitation of a municipal entity or obligated person.
The requirement for filing Form MA, as mandated by Section 975 of the Dodd-Frank Act and which amended Section 15B of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, went into effect on July 1, 2014. According to Section 15B, it’s against the law for any municipal advisor to provide counsel, and receive fees, on when to issue securities and how to invest the profits from their sales without disclosing this activity via Form MA, unless an exemption applies.
Form MA must be filed with the SEC in XML (Extensible Markup Language) format via the SEC’s EDGAR computer system for the receipt, acceptance, review and dissemination of documents submitted in electronic format to the Commission.
Every municipal advisory firm must renew Form MA each year by filing an annual update within 90 days after the end of its fiscal year, and calendar year for sole proprietors. For support and additional information, explore our SEC reporting solutions.