Regulating Financial Advice: Evidence from the Municipal Bond Market
Abstract
We examine how the 2016 Municipal Advisor Regulatory Reform, which professionalized municipal advisors by imposing standards of conduct and minimum competency requirements, affected advisory firms and issuers. Using a difference-in-differences (DiD) research design, we find that the reform improved the quality of financial advice provided by independent municipal advisory firms relative to dealer firms. Specifically, independent municipal advisors assemble higher-quality financing teams and ensure greater financial disclosure compliance and timeliness in the post-reform period. These improvements provide tangible economic benefits to issuers through lower bond issuance costs and smaller underwriter fees. Finally, we document that independent advisory firms gain market share and charge higher fees relative to dealer firms after the reform. Overall, our study provides novel evidence linking the professionalization of financial intermediaries to improvements in the quality of advice, financial transparency, and issuer borrowing costs. Data Availability: Data are available from the commercial and public sources identified in the paper.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-2024-0006
- Pages
- 1-31
- Language
- en
- Sources
- crossref