University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business Launches Center
for Financial Policy
COLLEGE PARK, Md., Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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 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.
More information about the Smith School's Center for Financial Policy is
available online at http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/cfp/.
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, 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. http://www.rhsmith.umd.edu/
CONTACT: Carrie Handwerker
301-405-5833
chand@rhsmith.umd.edu
SOURCE Robert H. Smith School of Business
Carrie Handwerker of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, +1-301-405-5833,
chand@rhsmith.umd.edu
