In light of the current market conditions, the Asset Management Group (“AMG”) of SIFMA will distribute a Daily Report which highlights important industry initiatives relevant to the business activities of asset managers. Please contact Douglas Taggart at dtaggart@sifma.org if you would like to add a colleague to this distribution list.
Congressional Testimony on the Current Situation in the U.S. Credit Markets
In a hearing today, the Senate Banking Committee heard testimony relating to recent regulatory responses to the turmoil in the credit markets. Interim Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Neel Kashkari provided testimony on the Treasury Department's seven programs related to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, each program is headed by a team, and these include:
1) Mortgage-backed securities purchase program
2) Whole loan purchase program
3) Insurance program
4) Equity purchase program
5) Homeownership preservation
6) Executive compensation
7) Compliance
Sheila C. Bair, Chairman of the FDIC, testified before the Senate Committee on some of actions that have been taken to address the crisis, including:
1) a temporary increase of deposit insurance to $250,000, the same amount of coverage previously provided for self-directed retirement accounts;
2) a new Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program (TLGP) designed to free up funding for banks to make loans to creditworthy businesses and consumers
3) encouraging loan holders and servicers to adopt systematic approaches to loan modifications that result in affordable loans that are sustainable over the long term
4) identifying other opportunities as a result of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act
New Buy side Operations Leadership
At its member meeting on October 21, 2008, The Asset Managers Forum elected Mary Stone, Vice President of Global Trading Operations at GE Asset Management and Jesse Robinson, Manager of Investment Support at Western Asset Management Company to the AMF Steering Committee. The AMF would also like to recognize and thank four individuals that are rotating off the Steering Committee: Jon Ambos of Citi, Larry Barnett of Braddock Financial, Michael Connors of GM Asset Management and Gary Nussenbaum of J.P. Morgan Chase. The AMF Steering Committee, would like to thank Jon, Larry and Mike and Gary for their dedication and service to the Forum and their roles as leaders in shaping the AMF's operations agenda. Their service has contributed to enhanced practices in securities processing for asset management firms.
Upcoming SIFMA Events
Important Publications:
SIFMA SmartBrief (past five issues)
SIFMA Regulatory Update
SIFMA Washington Weekly