Why Best Execution Matters in Municipal Bonds
MSRB Rule G-18 requires municipal securities dealers to use reasonable diligence to obtain a price for their customers that is as favorable as possible under prevailing market conditions. In a decentralized, over-the-counter market with limited real-time transparency, meeting this obligation demands access to comprehensive and current pricing data.
The challenge is that reported trade data alone offers an incomplete picture. Many municipal CUSIPs trade infrequently, and by the time a trade is reported, conditions may have shifted. Without sufficient reference points, it can be difficult to determine whether an execution price was genuinely competitive at the time of the trade.
MBIS addresses this gap by drawing on over 400,000 daily pre-trade quotes from hundreds of dealers. This means best execution analysis can be measured against actual, contemporaneous market activity—not just the limited subset of completed and reported transactions. The result is a more accurate and defensible assessment of execution quality.
Enter a CUSIP and price above to evaluate a trade against prevailing market conditions. For firms needing to evaluate trades at scale, MBIS also offers batch processing and intraday data feeds via SFTP. Contact us to discuss integration with your compliance workflow.
