First Trust Portfolios L.P., First Trust Advisors L.P., and The Charger Corporation filed a joint beneficial ownership disclosure with the SEC on October 30, 2026, reporting aggregate ownership of 2,391,616 common shares of BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.

Key Highlights

  • Three reporting persons: First Trust Portfolios L.P., First Trust Advisors L.P., and The Charger Corporation each report beneficial ownership of 2,391,616 shares.
  • Ownership percentage: The aggregate position represents 4.84% of the issuer's common shares outstanding.
  • Shared dispositive power only: All 2,391,616 shares are attributed solely to shared dispositive power; sole voting power, shared voting power, and sole dispositive power are each reported as 0.
  • Event date: The filing is triggered by an event dated September 30, 2026, and was signed on October 30, 2026.
  • Amendment No. 18: This disclosure is the eighteenth amendment to the filers' original statement regarding this issuer.
  • Beneficial ownership disclaimed: According to the filing, each of the three reporting persons "disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares of the issuer identified in this filing."

Unit Investment Trusts Hold Shares; Voting Controlled Separately

BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. is a registered investment company focused on municipal bond investments, with its principal executive offices located at 240 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10286. The filing identifies The Charger Corporation, an Illinois-organized entity, as the general partner of both First Trust Portfolios L.P. and First Trust Advisors L.P., which are also organized in Illinois and share a principal business address at 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400, Wheaton, Illinois 60187.

According to the filing, First Trust Portfolios L.P. acts as the sponsor of certain unit investment trusts that hold the issuer's common shares. First Trust Advisors L.P. serves as portfolio supervisor of those same unit investment trusts. The filing states that none of the three reporting persons holds the power to vote the shares; instead, voting is carried out by the trustee of the unit investment trusts, which is required to vote "as closely as possible in the same manner and in the same general proportion as are the shares held by owners other than such unit investment trusts." The filing further notes that no individual unit investment trust sponsored by First Trust Portfolios L.P. holds more than 3% of any registered investment company issuer's shares.

The filing was signed by James M. Dykas, identified as Chief Financial Officer for First Trust Portfolios L.P. and First Trust Advisors L.P., and as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for The Charger Corporation. The disclosure was filed under the rule applicable to ownership of 5 percent or less of a class, as indicated in Item 5 of the filing.

What Was Disclosed

Three affiliated Illinois entities jointly reported shared dispositive power over 2,391,616 common shares, or 4.84%, of BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. as of September 30, 2026, while each disclaimed beneficial ownership and reported zero voting power over those shares.