Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of
BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. (the Company) as of and for the year ended November 30, 2023, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), we considered the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, including controls over safeguarding securities, as a basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-CEN, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
The management of the Company is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of controls. A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of a company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
A deficiency in internal control over financial reporting exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Our consideration of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph and would not necessarily disclose all deficiencies in internal control that might be material weaknesses under standards established by the PCAOB. However, we noted no deficiencies in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and its operation, including controls over safeguarding securities that we consider to be a material weakness as defined above as of November 30, 2023.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the Board of Directors of BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc. and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
/s/ ERNST & YOUNG LLP
New York, New York
January 22, 2024
Item G.1.b.iv
BNY Mellon Strategic Municipal Bond Fund, Inc.
(the "Fund")
Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports
Under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act and Section 30(h) of the 1940 Act, and the rules thereunder, the Fund's officers and Trustees, persons owning more than 10% of the Fund's Common Stock, Auction Preferred Stock ("APS") or Variable Rate MuniFund Term Preferred Shares ("VMTP") and certain additional persons are required to report their transactions in the Fund's stock to the SEC and the Fund. Based solely on written representations of such persons and on copies of reports that have been filed with the SEC, the Fund believes that, during the fiscal year ended November 30, 2023, all filing requirements applicable to such persons were complied with except that the Form 4 for UBS Group AG reflecting the disposal of shares of the Fund's APS was filed on July 17, 2023, the Form 4 for Bank of America Corp reflecting the disposal of shares of the Fund's APS was filed on July 25, 2023 and the Form 3 for Bank of America Corp reflecting the acquisition of VMTP was filed on July 25, 2023, none of which were filed in a timely manner.