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University of Maryland’s Robert
H. Smith School of Business
Launches Center for Financial Policy
College Park, Md. – November 5, 2009 — The University of
Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business launched the new
Center for Financial Policy on Nov. 2 with a roundtable
discussion on the hotly debated issue of “Executive Compensation—Practices and
Reform.” The Center for Financial Policy offers an unbiased source of expertise
on complex policy issues related to financial institutions, financial markets
and public companies through cutting edge education and research. The center
intends to interact with policy makers to provide impartial help in steering and
influencing policy.
The Washington, D.C., roundtable event
featured keynote speaker Kenneth Feinberg, Special Master for Compensation of
the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He described the underlying rationale
behind the recently determined compensation packages for the 25 top executives
at seven firms that received more than one round of federal bailout funding. Two
panel discussions allowed the almost 200 participants, mostly high-level
executives from the public and private sectors, to explore best practices and
reforms and engage with experts in the field through question-and-answer
sessions. Daniel Tarullo, Governor of the Federal Reserve Board, wrapped up the
day with an announcement that the Fed will begin gathering information from
large complex banking organizations regarding their pay practices, as a first
step toward increasing involvement in setting compensation guidelines.
The roundtable was one of several events this fall that launched the center,
an important initiative of the Smith School designed to mobilize Smith faculty
to address critical issues in the complex world of financial markets.
“The financial crisis highlighted the need for a broader, interdisciplinary
perspective to addressing financial policy and corporate governance issues,”
said Lemma Senbet, the William E. Mayer Chair Professor of Finance and director
of the Center for Financial Policy. “Our hope is for government financial
regulatory agencies, congressional staffers, industry associations, and
corporations to look to the center as a partner and champion of best practices
in the financial arena.”
Senbet heads the center as director and is joined by managing director and
Tyser Teaching Fellow Clifford Rossi, an industry leader with nearly 25 years
experience in banking and government, most recently as Chief Risk Officer for
Consumer Lending at Citigroup where he was intimately involved in TARP funding
and stress tests performed on Citi. The center’s leadership is rounded out by
finance industry veteran William Longbrake, the executive-in-residence and
senior policy advisor who joined to work on a variety of business, policy, and
governance issues with faculty, students, business leaders, government
policy-makers, and executives of not-for-profit organizations.
Located in Washington, D.C., at the Smith’s School’s campus in the Ronald
Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the Center for Financial Policy
is well-situated to take a leadership role with its globally recognized faculty
and its extensive relationships with key policy-makers, practitioners and
academics.
“It is important to have deep thinkers involved in the development of policy,
people who are not under pressure to further anyone’s political agenda or are
affected by the political consequences of the outcome,” says Smith School Dean
G. “Anand” Anandalingam. “The challenge for all of academia is to make its voice
heard within the corridors of power, alongside the many other voices competing
for attention.”
The center will encompass the broad range of research in which Smith faculty
are already world experts, focusing on areas related to six distinct areas:
corporate governance, led by Senbet; financial institutions and corporate
finance led by Haluk Unal, professor of finance; emerging capital markets, led
by Vojislav Maksimovic, Dean’s Chair Professor of Finance; asset valuation and
markets, led by Albert “Pete” Kyle, Smith Chair Professor of Finance; money
management, led by Russ Wermers, associate professor of finance; and risk
management, led by Alexander Triantis, professor of finance and finance
department chair, and Cliff Rossi, the center’s managing director.
The Center for Financial Policy will host a regular speaker series to explore
financial policy and corporate governance issues. The center will also host the
yearly Directors’ Institute, an intensive two-day program for board chairs,
corporate directors and senior executives of publicly traded companies to
address critical issues facing corporate boards. The inaugural program will be
held April 7-9, 2010 in Washington, D.C., run by Director Stephen Wallenstein,
senior fellow of finance and a recognized expert in corporate governance and
best practices for publicly traded companies in the U.S. and abroad.
About the University of Maryland’s Robert H.
Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader
in management education and research. One of 13 colleges and schools at the
University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate,
full-time and part-time MBA, executive MBA, executive MS, PhD and executive
education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The
school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning
locations in North America and Asia.
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