Bond Underwriting Industry Continues to Contract: Muni-Wise

There were 1,705 dealers registered with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board in 2013. A decade later, that figure has declined to 1,089, an almost 40% drop. And during the first quarter of this year, a mere 70 underwriters managed at least one bond issue. Just about half of them managed fewer than 10 deals.

At some point, the shrinkage in the industry is going to have an impact and cost borrowers — just not yet, it seems.

I reached out for an explanation.

“While on the surface the reduced number of firms is alarming, any danger to the market is ...