Wayne A. Abernathy Leads FinReg21.com Discussion on Financial Regulatory Models

Former Treasury Assistant Secretary and current EVP at American Bankers
Association argues in favor of regulatory diversity

BOSTON--(Business Wire)--
FinReg21.com, a newly launched online resource of original commentary and news
on financial regulatory reform, hosted a live webinar on June 11th featuring
Wayne A. Abernathy, former Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial
Institutions and currently an executive vice president at the American Bankers
Association (ABA). Mr. Abernathy led a discussion about proposals to reform the
financial regulatory structure, and stressed the benefits of regulatory
diversity as compared to the streamlined one regulator model.

"We pride ourselves on fostering innovation here in the U.S., and financial
regulatory innovation is what`s needed now. Regulatory diversity leads to
innovation by encouraging competition among agencies," said Wayne A. Abernathy,
former Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions and currently an
executive vice president at the ABA. "While it is foolish to think that we can
devise something to prevent a crisis from ever happening again, what we can do
is ensure that we are prepared to be resilient, so that we can respond and
course correct effectively."

Mr. Abernathy is executive vice president for financial institutions policy and
regulatory affairs at the ABA. Immediately prior to that position, he was the
Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions from December 2002
through January 2005. A long-time veteran on the staff of the U.S. Senate, Mr.
Abernathy served as Staff Director of the Senate Banking Committee under
Chairman Phil Gramm (R-Texas), during which time several key financial services
laws were enacted, including the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Commodity
Futures Modernization Act.

"The financial regulatory system is in a period of transition right now and Mr.
Abernathy was able to offer his unique perspective on how to best move the
economy forward from a regulatory perspective," said David S. Evans, noted
economist, a FinReg21.com founder and the site`s Editor-in-Chief. "While there
is a desire to streamline and simplify, Mr. Abernathy rightly points out that we
have to keep asking the question, what is in the consumers` best interests?"

The webinar is one in a series of online forums taking place regularly on
FinReg21.com. FinReg21.com encompasses original content, news, legislative
tracking, and other resources on financial regulatory reform. Its goal is to
pull together a community of people globally who are working on or are affected
by financial services reform, including officials working in the banking,
insurance, securities, and payments industries.

To hear a recorded version of the webinar and subscribe to regular e-mail
editorial update alerts from FinReg21.com, visit http://www.finreg21.com/.

About FinReg21.com:

FinReg21.com is the only online community dedicated to the future of financial
services regulation and reform that captures the collective wisdom of the
world`s leading industry practitioners, regulators, policy makers, and scholars.
Provocative and cutting edge views are presented in an environment that supports
the mutual exchange of ideas via live webinars, expert blogs and podcasts.
Lombard Street, FinReg21.com`s twice-monthly e-journal, documents critical
thinking from experts who are at the heart of shaping and implementing reform.
Original reporting, real-time legislative tracking (coming soon) and breaking
news round out FinReg21.com`s unique mix in the critical debate over regulatory
reform in the 21st century. For more information visit http://www.finreg21.com/.

For FinReg21.com
Elisabeth Hershman, 212-289-6734
ehershman@vpgllp.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009