The National Science Foundation (NSF) is hosting a Workshop on Knowledge Representation and Information Management for Financial Risk Management in collaboration with the Center for Financial Policy at the R. H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. The conference will take place July 21-22, 2010 near the NSF offices in Arlington, VA.  (Note that this event is distinct from the June 21-22 CE-NIF conference on systemic risk.) Please see the conference website for additional details.

The Professional Risk Managers' International Association (PRMIA) has released the results of a survey conducted in March and April of chief risk officers (CROs) on the subject of systemic risk. The survey was developed by PRMIA and the CE-NIF. More than 80 percent of the CROs agreed that current systemic risk monitoring tools are inadequate. Further strong majorities, in excess of 70 percent, agreed that system-wide data are required to monitor systemic risk, and that standardized data protocols would be an improvement.

Here is an article in Securities Industry News describing the survey results.

Here is the PRMIA press release. Additional survey details are available from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

In a letter delivered to the leadership of the Congressional financial committees and key Administration officials, the American Bar Association (ABA) today (May 7th, 2010) publicly endorsed the creation of an Office of Financial Research proposed in the Restoring American Financial Stability Act. The letter is a product of the ABA Task Force on Financial Markets Regulatory Reform. While careful in the letter not to take a position in favor or opposition to the overall Act or to the proposed Financial Stability Oversight Council, the authors single out the Office of Financial Research (in Title I, Subtitle B of the Act) for endorsement. They state:

... we are pleased to advise you that the ABA supports the creation of the Office of Financial Research, and we hope that the new Office will be included in the final version of the Act or any other broad financial reform legislation that Congress may enact this year.

The authors of the letter are William F. Kroener, III and Giovanni P. Prezioso, Co-Chairs of the ABA Task Force on Financial Markets Regulatory Reform. The letter is addressed to Sen. Dodd and Sen. Shelby, respectively the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; to Rep. Frank and Rep. Bachus, respectively the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services; to Mr. Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury; and to Mr. Summers, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy and Director of the National Economic Council.

Here is the full letter to Messrs. Dodd, Shelby, Frank, Bachus, Geithner, and Summers.

On March 15th, 2010, Senator Dodd of Connecticut introduced proposed legislation for financial reform into the Senate Banking Committee. Debate on the bill within the full Senate began on April 29th. This bill contains a proposal to create the Office of Financial Research (OFR) within the U.S. Treasury. The proposed OFR mirrors closely the National Institute of Finance (NIF) proposal that the CE-NIF has been advancing for many months, and which proposal was earlier embodied in Senator Reed's bill of Feb. 4th. The CE-NIF strongly supports the OFR proposal contained in Senator Dodd's bill.