Fitch Ratings' Michael Belsky to Leave in March '09 to Join GASB

Fitch Ratings group managing director and head of business development for public finance, Michael Belsky, will leave in March 2009 to join the Government Accounting Standards Board, the agency confirmed yesterday.

Belsky, who is also the mayor of Highland Park, Ill., begins his term with GASB on Dec. 31, the board said earlier this week in a release announcing his appointment. His term will run until June 30, 2013.

Belsky became co-manager of Fitch's U.S. public finance department at Fitch in 2002. He took over sole responsibility for the group when Frank Rizzo retired in 2003.

Fitch earlier this year assigned chief credit officer Robert Grossman to lead the U.S. public finance unit as it began to consider adopting a single-rating scale for municipal and corporate issuers, while Belsky continued to focus on leading the group's business development efforts.

Belsky joined Fitch in 1993, opening its Chicago office. Previously, he headed public finance operations at Chicago-based Mesirow Financial Inc. He has also held positions in the public finance department at Northern Trust Co. and was an assistant to the Illinois attorney general.

Belsky will serve as one of six part-time members of the seven-person board. The board of trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation - which oversees both the Financial Accounting Standards Board and GASB - appointed him.

First elected mayor in 2003, Belsky's current term runs through 2011. In addition to his political interest, Belsky also serves on the Municipal Bond Club of Chicago's board of directors and is a member of the Society of Municipal Bond Analysts and the Government Finance Officers Association.

Belsky takes the spot on GASB that opened when Girard Miller resigned in July. After taking a senior strategist position at the PFM Group, Miller left the board to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"On behalf of the FAF board of trustees, I am pleased to welcome Michael Belsky as the newest member of the GASB," FAF chairman Robert Denham said in a statement. "His years of experience in the municipal bond industry as a financial statement user and his extensive knowledge of governmental financial issues will be extremely valuable to the board in its mission to assure high-quality reporting standards."

The board also announced it had reappointed former New York State deputy comptroller Robert H. Attmore to his position as GASB's full-time chairman.

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