MAC Products and Services Overview

www.mactexas.com
Almost everything we do is posted on www.mactexas.com in one form or another.  From the products and services described below to our membership directory and query capabilities, we strive to improve the features and content of the website on a continuing basis.  The information you need to conduct business is a click away.

www.disclosureusa.org
DisclosureUSA, the website created to serve as the Central Post Office for secondary market disclosure, was launched on September 7, 2004.  The same day, Martha Haines, Chief of the Office of Municipal Securities at the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a press release and an interpretative letter authorizing the use of DisclosureUSA by issuers and others who make disclosure filings pursuant to SEC Rule 15c2-12.

DisclosureUSA is a result of the efforts of the Muni Council to improve secondary market disclosure. The Municipal Advisory Council of Texas was chosen to develop and operate a system that enables issuers to meet the filing requirements of Rule 15c2-12 by means of a single filing location. The Municipal Advisory Council was recognized for its contribution to developing and operating the site by the National Association of State Treasurers, State Debt Management Network with the Tanya Gritz Award for Excellence in Public Finance for 2004.

Texas Municipal Reports
Whenever a public entity issues debt or sends the MAC its latest annual financial report, our analysts promptly begin to update the corresponding Texas Municipal Report (TMR).  These TMRs provide the municipal bond community with current financial and economic data on more than 5,000 issuers in Texas, including state agencies, cities, counties, school districts, water and municipal utility districts, universities and junior colleges, river authorities, hospital districts, and housing authorities.  Each TMR includes, at a minimum, an issuer's outstanding debt and debt service schedule, its basic operating statements, its economic background, and a list of its finance-related officials. Our TMRs also include vital tax information for all tax-supported debt. To facilitate TMR production, our analysts utilize data from audits, SID documents, official statements, county appraisal districts, the State Comptroller's office, and various websites. TMRs are available on-line.  They can be accessed with a CUSIP, by issuer name or by the MAC 4 digit code.  Additional information, such as bond ratings and associated documents, are a click away.  Updated TMRs are sent to the web on a daily basis.

Texas Bond Reporter
The Texas Bond Reporter, published weekly, gives an overview of current bond issues. Each bond issue is tracked from the election stage through the Attorney General's approval. Each Thursday morning the electronic version of The Texas Bond Reporter is emailed to subscribers. The printed version is mailed Thursday and is usually received by the next day.

Information Reported in The Texas Bond Reporter:

The MAC’s On-line Bond Calendar and Bond Sales Results help industry participants get the information and documents they need to stay on top of scheduled bond sales.  Descriptive bond information is keyed into our database and exported to the website, along with associated documents, within minutes of receipt to the website.

MAC Insights - A quarterly newsletter geared toward increasing the communication within the municipal finance industry.  MAC Insights is distributed to over 3,000 members, bond counsels, issuer finance officials and other industry professionals.  MAC Insights has feature articles on MAC conferences, new state finance programs and articles by member firms. 

Since the MAC has served as an unofficial depository of documents since 1954, we have accumulated audited annual financial reports, official statements, escrow agreements and verification reports on over 5,000 issuers in the state.  Official Statements, Material Event Notices, Annual Financial Reports and Continuing Disclosure Reports are now available on-line.  Any document not currently on the web only requires a phone call, and we will have it available within minutes.

State Information Depository
The MAC’s designation as a SID places it in a unique position.  The MAC, just like the four NRMSIRs (Nationally Recognized Municipal Securities Information Repositories), will receive the audited financial statements, annual financial information and operating data and material events of all municipal debt issuers in the state, as required by Rule 15c2-12.  The MAC was the first organization in the nation to be designated a State Information Depository. 

In line with our role as the Texas State Information Depository (SID), the MAC began a new service in 2002.  Once a month, letters to Texas Issuers are sent, notifying them of an upcoming due date for filing their Financial and Operating Data and Annual Financial Statements pursuant to SEC Rule 15c2-12.  In addition, letters are being sent to Texas Issuers that have not filed their information by the date indicated in our records.  After one year of providing this service, the number of issues with information filed increased from 78% of all issues required to file to 92%.

The MAC hosts an annual conference on industry topics.  These topics have included derivatives, secondary disclosure, tax reform and legislative changes.  In addition, the MAC hosts Roundtables to encourage discussion, to educate and to keep members informed about important issues facing the industry. 

The MAC also hosts “MAC Training Day” designed to educate members about MAC products and services.

The MAC maintains a huge database of municipal bond information.  Those interested in obtaining a specific query of the database should contact the MAC.   There is a charge of $100 per hour for research requests.

Membership Directory– Online & printed

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MAC Subscription: Includes access to www.mactexas.com and a subscription to The Texas Bond Reporter and MAC Insights.

MAC Subscription	MAC Members	Non-Members	Issuers
Initial Office	$250.00 per month or Free if firm has paid underwriting assessment in previous calendar year.	$500.00 per month	$250.00 per month
Branch Office	Free	$100.00 per month	N/A

Research Requests will be billed at $100 per hour.

Documents (Official Statements, Transcripts, Audits, and Material Event Notices) may be purchased for $25 each.

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Prescribed by the Board of Trustees:  Effective September 1, 2002

The rate of assessment on all new issues approved by the Texas Attorney General is $0.50 per $1,000 for the first $1,000,000 of bonds purchased, plus $0.10 per $1,000 on the remaining balance of the issue with a maximum underwriting assessment of $10,000.

Par Amount of Issue(s) Underwritten

An annual maximum underwriting assessment of $20,000 will apply to more than one issue of securities of the same issuer, selling within the same MAC fiscal year (November 1 - October 31). For Conduit Issuers (see definition below), the annual maximum underwriting assessment of $20,000 will apply to each separate pledge of income or project. Any assessment collected in excess of this maximum will be refunded to the underwriter(s).

The rate of assessment on contractual obligations and other similar debt instruments is:

Any purchase of bonds, warrants, notes or other evidences of indebtedness from the issuing municipal subdivision shall constitute an underwriting within the meaning of this resolution. The assessment shall apply to all underwritings by a dealer who is a Council member or by a syndicate that contains one or more Council members.

More than one issue of securities, payable from the same pledge of income, shall comprise a single underwriting if:

Variable rate obligations that have a final maturity greater than one year and that have an option to be put in less than one year are not assessed if they are sold through competitive sale, but are assessed if they are sold through negotiated sale.

Refunding bonds are subject to assessment as any other bonds under the following conditions:

Any purchase of an issue of securities from the issuing agency by any partner, principal or employee of a member firm shall be considered as an ordinary underwriting for purposes of assessment.

A new issue placed privately by a Council member acting for a fee paid by the issuing agency is assessable on the same basis as an underwriting.

Governmental entities that issue securities for the benefit of a third party, usually qualified, nongovernmental corporations, such as not-for-profit hospitals, private colleges, and private companies engaged in pollution-control activities. Examples of conduit issuers include, but are not limited to, Housing Finance Corporation, Health Facility Development Corporations, Industrial Development Corporations, River Authorities, Regional Utility Districts, and Higher Education Authorities.