The SEC announced the actions on Thursday and Friday.

The MSRB filed its proposal for the new provision on electronic communications -- Rule G-40 -- with the SEC less than two weeks ago, on April 30. The rule would require municipal securities dealers to appoint an individual to serve as a contact person to receive electronic communications from the board.

It is slated to take effect in August -- 90 days from when it was approved on May 9.

Under the rule, dealer firms will have to fill out a new Form G-40 with: the dealer's name, date, the name of a contact person, telephone number, Individual Central Registration Depository (CRD) number, and the name, title, signature, and telephone number of the person who prepared the form.

The MSRB filed proposed changes to its Rule G-3 on professional qualifications with the SEC in March. Those rule changes would establish a new category of professionals in the market, called municipal fund securities limited principals, who would be available to brokers whose activities are limited to selling municipal fund securities for college savings programs or local-government investment pools.

The SEC said that it plans to publish the proposal in the Federal Register next week and to ask for public comments. The new municipal fund securities examination will not be available until Oct. 1, if the SEC eventually approves the rule changes, according to the MSRB.

But during a transition period until Dec. 31, general securities principals and investment company variable-contracts limited principals will be able to supervise municipal fund securities activities, according to the board.

Municipal fund securities -- a term coined by the MSRB in 1999 -- look more like mutual funds than municipal securities. They generally provide an investment return and are valued based on the performance of an underlying pool of assets with an aggregate value that increases or decreases on a daily basis.

These securities grew out of college savings programs, which many states have adopted. In these programs, parents or other adults invest funds in state trusts in return for tax-deferred shares of interests that can be cashed in later to pay for the college expenses of their children or others. The money is not taxed until withdrawn, and then only at the tax rate of the student.