Entries by jimflaherty

Rating agency reform

I attended the CREFC After-Work Seminar – SEC Disclosure Requirements this week on the new SEC rule (Rule 17g-5) that goes into effect June 2. The rule is designed to address the perceived conflict of interest that rating agencies have as a result of issuers paying for ratings. The rule requires issuers and hired rating agencies to […]

Senate moves transparency front and center

This week the U.S. Senate released its version of financial reform with a bill titled “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.” Like the House bill passed last year, this bill, among other things, stresses the importance of transparency. In fact, the first line of the Senate Bill says it purpose is “To promote the […]

MISMO focus for 2010

We had our monthly MISMO status call yesterday and started implementing our 2010 strategic plan. The group is focused on pushing the adoption of the rent roll and operating standards to help achieve transparency and mitigate risk. We all feel this is a “make or break” year for MISMO, so we want to give a […]

Whistler!

I spent the weekend skiing with a group of industry guys. Our annual trip is usually in Aspen, but this year we ventured to Whistler. It’s a boys trip with a rocking crew that works in lending, advisory, servicing and legal. Not much discussion about standards, rent rolls and MISMO, but I got a few […]

MBA in Las Vegas

I attended the Mortgage Bankers Association annual commercial real estate finance conference in Las Vegas last week. Attendance was about 2,000 people, which was better than last year’s 1,600 but well off the 5,000 who attended during the peak. Money Available The mood was better than last year but still pretty bleak. I would describe […]

Transparency: On the agenda

The CMSA conference in Washington, DC just ended and the transparency issue was one of (if not the) dominant issues of the conference. Many attendees — as well as the guest speakers that included a senator, two congressmen, the head of the FDIC and a treasury spokesman — stressed transparency as critical to market recovery […]

Standards Released!

The rent roll and operating statements standards we’ve been working on for the past six months are finished. They are posted on MISMO’s Commercial Mortgage Specifications page. Now it’s time to promote the benefits of compliance to ensure widespread industry adoption. I will be at the CMSA Conference next week in Washington, DC and the MBA […]