WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- The U.S. Bond Market Association said Thursday it has agreed to ask its members to collect a voluntary fee, starting July 1.
The Association said the fee will be collected from municipal bond issuing clients to help fund the operations of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.
The bond trade group said in a question-and-answer notice posted on its Web site that the initiative comes in response to a request from the Government Finance Officers Association, National Association of State Treasurers and National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers.
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board was created 20 years ago by the Financial Accounting Foundation to establish standards of financial accounting and reporting for state and local governmental entities.
The fee is intended to help fund a Governmental Accounting Standards Board budget gap.
The voluntary fee initially will be set at one-half cent per bond with a $1,000 par value, and in no event will the fee exceed that amount.
The three state and local groups will meet annually to review fee collections. The fee will be collected on all municipal bond new issue transactions, negotiated and competitive.
