Contact: Lynnette Kelly Hotchkiss, Executive Director
(703) 797-6600
lhotchkiss@msrb.org
Contact: Jennifer A. Galloway, Chief Communications Officer
(703) 797-6600
jgalloway@msrb.org
THE MUNICIPAL SECURITIES RULEMAKING BOARD
SEATS MEMBERS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2009
Frank Chin Steps Down to Preserve Board Integrity
Alexandria, VA - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board today seated members and officers for Fiscal Year 2009, with Ronald A. Stack, of Barclays Capital, as Chair and Peter T. Clarke, of J. P. Morgan Securities, as Vice Chair. The Board also accepted the resignation of former Chair Frank Chin, of Citi, who stepped down to preserve the balance of representatives on the Board, altered by corporate changes in the financial services industry.
“It is with great regret that we are losing such a distinguished member who has accomplished so much,” said Ronald A. Stack, Managing Director and Head of Public Finance at Barclays Capital. “However, the new Board remains fully prepared to meet the demands of a changing and complex regulatory environment and to fulfill its mission of protecting investors and preserving the integrity of the municipal market.”
MSRB rules require that its 15 members are divided evenly among representatives of securities firms, banks and the public. Mr. Stack joined Barclays Capital last week as a Managing Director and Head of Public Finance, and Goldman, Sachs changed its status to a bank holding company in recent weeks, which resulted in too many bank representatives on the Board. Kevin Willens, Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, resigned from the Board last week. With a new bank Board member, elected in July, joining today banks were still overrepresented.
Chin, Managing Director and Manager of the Public Finance Department at Citi, said he wanted the Board to avoid a conflict with statutory restrictions. “The firm-related changes over the past two weeks were unprecedented,” Chin said. “But they created a situation that needed to be resolved. And while it saddens me to leave, I’ve had three productive and successful years on the Board. I’m confident the Board will continue the good work we have achieved.”
Chin was about to begin a fourth year on the Board to fill an earlier open bank slot. Under his leadership, the Board developed and launched the Electronic Municipal Market Access System. The free, interactive website (www.emma.msrb.org) has made a historic contribution to municipal bond disclosure and is changing public access to bond documentation in a fundamental way. Also under Chin, the MSRB created rules to support the New Issue Information Dissemination Service, which increases efficiency and speed to the dissemination of new issue bond data. Chin also oversaw planning of a program that will increase transparency of short-term municipal securities beginning in 2009.
As previously announced, new Board members seated today are Michael Bartolotta, Vice Chairman of First Southwest Co.; Stanley E. Grayson, President and Chief Operating Officer of M. R. Beal & Co.; F. Thomas Howard, Executive Director of Kentucky’s Office of Financial Management; Kathleen A. McDonough, retired Ambac Financial Group executive; and Martin Vogtsberger, Managing Director, Head of Institutional Brokerage at Fifth Third Securities, Inc. Each will serve a three-year term.
