Written Testimony of Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. On behalf of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion Hearing entitled “A Review of Diversity and Inclusion at America’s Large Banks”

February 12, 2020

Chairwoman Beatty, Ranking Member Wagner, Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today on behalf of SIFMA and to share our members’ commitment to diversity and inclusion in the securities industry. SIFMA commends the members of this Committee for your collective focus on these important issues.

SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. On behalf of our industry’s nearly one million employees, we advocate on legislation, regulation and business...

For 52 years, SIFMA’s C&L Annual Seminar has served as the preeminent event for compliance and legal professionals working in financial services. Throughout the three-day program, participants hear directly from industry leaders and regulators on the latest developments and trends and build professional relationships to collaborate better.

With focused discussions by noted keynote speakers and subject matter experts, attendees will have the opportunity to earn CLE credit, including diversity and ethics credit, and network with peers.

Discover the 2020 C&L program tracks here!

Washington, D.C., February 7, 2020 – SIFMA today released the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO, regarding the U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs Brent McIntosh’s speech on data connectivity Wednesday in Singapore.

“SIFMA congratulates Under Secretary McIntosh on an excellent speech. Cross-border data flows are crucial to the financial services industry and the capital formation and job creation they underpin. As such, building on the important milestones USMCA laid, we strongly endorse the Under Secretary’s prioritization of data connectivity. We warmly welcome both the establishment of the technical experts group on cross-border data issues in financial services, as part of the 2020 U.S. Presidency of the G7, and the U.S.-Singapore Joint Statement on Financial Services Data Connectivity. We look forward to continuing our work with Treasury on this issue, one of crucial importance.”

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With the wave of new regulatory technology hitting the financial services industry, the SIFMA RegTech Conference will discuss the resulting challenges of assessing legal and compliance risks associated with artificial intelligence, robotics process automation, and more.

Join industry experts, regulators, and innovators to examine the legal and compliance risks and rewards when implementing regtech solutions and discover cutting-edge products that will affect how firms implement compliance responsibilities in the future.

 

 

 

 

SIFMA 20th Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Financial Crimes Conference

New York City

 

On behalf of FinCEN Director Kenneth A. Blanco and the rest of the staff at FinCEN, I want to thank SIFMA for asking us to participate in SIFMA’s 20th annual AML conference.  We view it as an excellent opportunity to engage with an important group of industry stakeholders.  Yesterday, you heard from Laura Richardson from FinCEN’s Intelligence Division on how we use financial institution reporting, particularly in the case of identifying trends in elder fraud.  I also am happy to note that we have two other FinCEN staffers here:  Ted Vlahakis and Danica Hames from FinCEN’s Enforcement Division. 

I first came to this conference in 2007, about a half year after starting at FinCEN.  It became one of my favorite annual events because it provided a good opportunity for me to learn about a...

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SIFMA’s Anti-Money Laundering & Financial Crimes Conference brings together leaders from the securities industry, regulatory agencies and law enforcement to discuss the latest developments and priorities in the AML and financial crime space. Throughout the two-day program, attendees will hear directly from the industry’s regulators; participate in closed-door sessions; and network with policymakers and peer compliance professionals.

Celebrating its 20th year, this is the only conference in the AML and financial crime space tailored to broker-dealers and other members of the securities industry.

New York, N.Y., February 3, 2020 — SIFMA has confirmed its previous recommendation for a full market close on Monday, February 17 for the trading of U.S. dollar-denominated fixed income securities in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan in observance of the U.S. Presidents Day Holiday.

This recommendation applies to trading of U.S. dollar-denominated government securities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, over-the-counter investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds, municipal bonds and secondary money market trading in bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper and Yankee and Euro certificates of deposit.

SIFMA’s recommended early and full market closes are recommendations only; each member firm should decide for itself whether its fixed income departments remain open for trading. All SIFMA recommendations are subject to change due to market conditions.

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SIFMA is the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks and asset...

Join the leading names in social media and experts in wealth management for an industry discussion on the best practices, compliance considerations and latest developments in the use of digital communications platforms.

The #SIFMAsocial seminar program explores a wide range of topics including:

SIFMA’s Private Client Conference brings together leaders from across private wealth management to examine the most topical issues facing the business. This comprehensive program focuses on financial advice amidst rapidly changing technology, regulations, and investor demographics.

Early bird rates available for the 2020 Private Client Conference: May 13-15 at JW Turnberry Miami in Aventura, FL.

With a sustained commitment to addressing the risk of money laundering and financial crime through securities firms, as well as strong collaboration between firms and with the regulatory community, much has been achieved by the securities industry in helping to make our financial system safer and more secure. With that understanding, however, comes the knowledge there will be much more change to come.

In this podcast, SIFMA President and CEO, Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., is joined by Steve Shine, Chief Regulatory Counsel at Prudential Financial Inc, and Cathy LaFalce, Managing Director and Global Head of AML Compliance Risk Management, Markets and Banking at Citi, to talk about the history of efforts to counter money laundering and other financial crimes in the securities industry and what the future may bring in this space.

Albert Caiazzo, Managing Director, First Clearing Anthony Crescenzi, Executive Vice President, Market Strategist, PIMCO Olga Naumovich, Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co. Roy Saadan, CEO and Co-Founder, Access Fintech Claire Santaniello, Managing Director & Head of Operations, BNY Mellon | Pershing Tonya Tyson, Chief Operations Officer, BB&T Securities, LLC Grace Vogel, Managing Director, Financial Services Advisory Practice, PwC Rachel Wilson, Managing Director, Technology Risk, Morgan Stanley Bill Wollman, Executive Vice President, Member Supervision, FINRA Stay tuned for more announcements coming soon

Washington, D.C., January 30, 2020 – SIFMA today issued the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., president and CEO, on the newly proposed revisions to the Volcker Rule:

“The current definition of ‘covered fund’ remains significantly overbroad and unduly complex, and the exclusions from the definition are excessively narrow and difficult to implement. This unnecessarily restricts the ability of banking entities to facilitate capital formation in an efficient and safe and sound manner promoting U.S. economic growth and job creation by prohibiting or restricting their ability to provide asset management services, customer facilitation services and long-term debt and equity financing to U.S. businesses indirectly through fund structures, even though they are expressly permitted to do so directly.  We are reviewing the proposal with our members and look forward to offering our views during the comment period.”

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SIFMA is the leading...

U.S capital markets are the largest in the world: 41% of global equity and 40% of global fixed income. They account for the dominant $ value and % of global activity in every market sector, representing on average 46% of total global market activity.

Why is it important that the U.S. remains the deepest, most liquid and most efficient capital markets in the world? First and foremost, they provide diversified funding options. This means we are more attractive to businesses looking for capital and also means that the U.S. economy is less vulnerable to economic or market shocks.

We’ll explain: in other countries, bank lending dominates corporate borrowing. Because bank lending is cyclical, it dries up after economic shock.

In the U.S., the inverse is true: bank lending accounts for just 26% of corporate borrowing, while corporate bonds are 74%.

During periods of economic stress, capital markets diversify funding and act as a...