WASHINGTON Lawmakers concerned about the independence of Wall Street equity researchers have announced plans to establish a review board of academics, regulators, and securities market participants to assess the industrys proposals to self-regulate through voluntary best practices.
Rep. Richard H. Baker, R-La., chairman of the House Financial Services subcommittee on capital markets, and the subcommittees ranking Democrat, Paul E. Kanjorski of Pennsylvania, sent a letter to 13 prospective review board members on Wednesday. In it, they asked that participants critique proposal for self-regulation of analyst practices issued by the Securities Industry Association and the Association for Investment Management and Research.
In the letter to the review board, the lawmakers asked that comments on the two industry proposals be forwarded to the subcommittee by August 21.
Individuals asked to participate include, David Berry, director of research, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.; Tom Brown, chief executive officer, Second Curve Capital; Thomas D. Clark Jr., Ourso Distinguished Professor of Business, Louisiana State University; Jonathan Cohen, managing partner, JHC Capital Management, LLC; Dick Grasso, chairman and chief executive officer, New York Stock Exchange; Samuel Hayes, professor emeritus, Harvard Business School; Amy Hutton, associate professor of business administration, Harvard Business School; Joseph McLaughlin, senior partner, Sidley Austin Brown & Wood; Andrew Metrick, professor of finance, Wharton Business School; the office of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Mary L. Schapiro, president, NASD Regulation, Inc.; Damon Silvers, associate general counsel, AFL-CIO; and Robert F. Stambaugh, professor of finance, Wharton Business School.
