SEC Chief Economist Craig Lewis joins CFP for Policy Chat
The Center for Financial Policy at the Smith School of Business hosted a
policy chat with Craig Lewis, SEC Chief Economist and Director of the Division
of Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation on April 25, 2012 in College Park,
MD. Faculty and students from the Smith School of Business, School of Public
Policy, and the Department of Economics attended the chat to with Dr. Lewis to
discuss the SEC rule-making process. The Policy Chat series generates research
interests, ideas, and possible collaborations among the faculty, students and
agency economists and creates a dialogue that is accessible to a wide audience.
Dr. Lewis spoke about cost-benefit analysis in SEC rulemaking. He also
highlighted the role of economic analysis and the need for research-based
commentary from academia in the rulemaking process. He and the policy chat’s
attendees also discussed the use of credit ratings to gauge risk, as well as
capital formation in the domestic vs. global marketplace and public vs. private
markets. The chat wrapped up with a discussion about the regulation of money
market funds, which is currently on the SEC’s rulemaking agenda. Dr. Lewis and
group spoke about the risk of runs and arbitrage, as well as tools that may
decrease those risks, such as floating NAV and capital buffers.
About Craig Lewis
Craig M. Lewis was named SEC Chief Economist and Director of the Division of
Risk, Strategy, and Financial Innovation (RiskFin) in May 2011. RiskFin was
created in September 2009 to provide interdisciplinary analysis to help inform
the Commission’s policymaking, rulemaking, enforcement and examinations. Dr.
Lewis previously was the Madison S. Wigginton Professor of Finance at Vanderbilt
University’s Owen Graduate School of Management and a visiting scholar at the
SEC. He first served as a visiting academic fellow at the SEC from January to
July 2010, and subsequently returned in that same capacity in January 2011. Over
this period he has provided advice on policy issues, worked on developing
analytic approaches to identify violations of securities laws, and analyzed the
over-the-counter derivative securities market.
About the Center for Financial Policy
The Center for Financial Policy leverages the Smith School’s world renowned
faculty to lead research in a collaborative exchange of ideas and solutions on
critical policy issues between business, government, and academia, while working
to enhance and broaden the exposure of the next generation of business and
government leaders to leading academics and practitioners in financial policy.
For more on the center, please visit the CFP website.
Related Material
Albert “Pete” Kyle, Charles E. Smith Chair Professor of Finance and CFP
Asset Management Track Chair, recently presented at the Law and Economics of
Capital Markets Fellows Workshop Columbia University on the Cost-Benefit
Analysis in SEC Rulemaking.
Slides from his
presentation are available here.
