The two-day webinar, “Using EMMA to Find Great Stories in Municipal Bonds,” takes place March 27-28, 2012. | At the bottom of this page, you’ll find links to complete the self-guided training.
EMMA is to municipal bonds what EDGAR is to stocks. EMMA stands for Electronic Municipal Market Access. Launched by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) in 2008, it provides free access to a treasure trove of information about the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market and individual bond issues, including their credit ratings and pricing.
The disclosure documents filed by the local governments that issue munis can contain newsworthy information on the economic health of your region.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
- What is EMMA and how can it serve as a tool for journalists
- What information on EMMA can help you report stories
- How to find that information
- How to track information on a particular community or project
YOUR INSTRUCTORS
Yamil Berard is an investigative reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She wrote a four-part series that showed her home county was among the nation’s leaders in municipal-bond defaults because of its authorization of risky conduit bonds.
Lynn Hume is the Washington bureau chief for The Bond Buyer, the daily newspaper of public finance. Before that, she covered a series of beats for the paper, including securities, derivatives, tax legislation, regulation and enforcement.
Ernesto Lanza is the deputy executive director and chief legal officer of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). He led the design, development and initial launch of EMMA. He holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard University and a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Justin Pica is director of product management for the MSRB. He oversees enhancements to EMMA. He has an MBA from George Washington University.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS
You can view the PowerPoint by clicking on the links below. To download and print, you may be asked to sign up for a free account at a third-party vendor, Slideshare. PDFs are available upon request.
The latest version of Adobe Flash is required to view the webinar recordings.
PowerPoint Presentations
- Using EMMA to Find Great Stories — Lanza and Pica
- Using EMMA to Find Great Stories — Berard
- Using EMMA to Find Great Stories — Hume
