SIFMA's CEO Tim Ryan to Leave

Timothy Ryan, president and chief executive officer of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, plans to leave the group on Feb. 23, SIFMA announced Tuesday.

Ryan, who worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. for 16 years before joining SIFMA in 2008, will return to the firm as global head of regulatory strategy and policy, JPMorgan said in a release.

SIFMA Executive Vice President of Public Policy and Advocacy Kenneth Bentsen Jr. has been named acting president and CEO while the board of directors search for Ryan’s permanent replacement, SIFMA said.

Ryan said in the SIFMA release that he is proud to have lead the group during a period of regulatory reform. He said he sought to promote regulations that would make the financial system safer without negatively impacting the economy.

Ryan had the highest compensation among leaders of 22 self-regulatory groups and associations in the municipal market, earning $3 million for the fiscal year ending in October 2011, according to a recent review of 990 Forms by The Bond Buyer.

He will join JPMorgan when regulatory policies worldwide are having an unprecedented effect on the firm’s business, JPMorgan co-chief operating officer Matt Zames said in his firm’s release.

“Tim has both a deep knowledge of these policies and the government representatives formulating them, and also knows our businesses and executives extremely well from his 16 years at the firm,” Zames said. “Beyond that, he has outstanding leadership qualities and integrity.”

Ryan said his experience can help the firm adapt and thrive during a time of evolving federal regulations such as those stemming from the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as the so-called Basel banking regulations and European Union, Financial Stability Board and housing policies.

Prior to joining SIFMA, Ryan was vice chairman of investment banking for financial institutions and governments at JPMorgan, which he joined in 1993.

Earlier, Ryan was director of the Office of Thrift Supervision at the Department of the Treasury, leading efforts to shutter some 700 savings and loan institutions that were insolvent following the savings and loan crisis, JPMorgan said. 

Ryan was partner in the Washington, D.C. office of law firm Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay from 1983 to 1990, heading the pension investment group.

From 1981 to 1983, he was solicitor of labor at the Department of Labor.

Bentsen, a former Democratic Congressman from Texas, joined SIFMA in 2009 as head of the group’s Washington office.

Earlier, he was president of the 700-member Equipment Leasing and Finance Association.

From 2003 to 2006, Bentsen was managing director at business-advisory firm Public Strategies Inc.

Bentsen represented Texas in the House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. He was a member of the Financial Services Committee and the Budget Committee, and helped draft and enact legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act in 1999, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act in 2002 and the Commodities Futures Modernization Act in 2000, SIFMA said.

He also was active in legislation and regulations affecting banks and thrifts, federal deposit insurance, securities law, derivatives and government-sponsored enterprises like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks.

In addition, Bentsen was active in the passage of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, SIFMA said.

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Law and regulation
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