Center for Financial Policy and PRMIA Team-Up to Host
Risk Management Leaders in NYC

	Mark Olson, Keynote

The Center for Financial Policy (CFP) at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA) hosted an intimate dinner event for financial services industry leaders in New York City at A Voce Restaurant on April 21st. Sungard, one of the world’s leading software and technology services companies, sponsored this event. Participants engaged in a dialogue about risk and regulatory issues within the financial services sector.

“Risk professionals need to have an ongoing dialogue, especially given the situations we face today,” Cliff Rossi, Executive-in-Residence at the Center for Financial Policy, said in his opening remarks. “CFP has a wide amount of resources to contribute to this dialogue.”

Mark Olson, Co-Chair of Treliant Risk Advisors and CFP Advisory Board member, provided the keynote address. “The role of risk management is elevated with the implementation of Dodd-Frank,” he said. Comparing Dodd-Frank to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) that resulted from the financial accounting scandals early last decade, Olson said that the recent regulation is larger than SOX because “Dodd-Frank impacts the way we do business.” He shared a few predictions for the risk management field: a greater emphasis on risk exposures related to executive compensation and pricing; better definition on the role of the board on risk management issues; more focused discussions on “stealth sections” of the Dodd-Frank Act such as Say on Pay; and more regulatory guidance.

Prior to joining Treliant Risk Advisors, Mark Olson was Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a Federal Reserve Board Governor, and President of the American Bankers Association. His deep regulatory, public policy, and consulting expertise brought a valuable perspective to the discussion.

The Center for Financial Policy was launched in November 2009 and develops thought leadership in financial policy that impacts corporate performance, capital allocation and the stability of the global financial system. Located in both College Park, MD and in Washington, D.C. at the Smith’s School’s campus in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the center is well-situated to take a leadership role with its globally recognized faculty and its extensive relationships with key policymakers, practitioners and academics.