NYC's Stringer wins GFOA financial reporting awards

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The Government Finance Officers Association presented an award for financial reporting to New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Thursday.

The award was presented during the comptroller’s annual closing and accounting seminar at Police Plaza in Manhattan by New York GFOA President Christina Cooke.

“Comptroller Stringer is being recognized for his dedicated commitment to clear and transparent financial information from the stakeholders of the city of New York,” said Cooke, who is also Suffolk County’s Executive Director of Finance and Taxation. “The Bureau of Accountancy under the leadership of Comptroller Stringer, [has put together] New York City’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report in a nationally recognized format and it is the premier indicator of the highest level of governmental accounting and financial reporting.”

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer have a budget briefing regarding the Fiscal Year 2019 Executive Budget on Thursday, April 26, 2018. Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office. This photograph is provided by the New York City Mayoral Photography Office (MPO) for the benefit of the general public and for dissemination by members of the media. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial materials, advertisements, emails, products or promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the City of New York, the Mayoral administration, or the de Blasio family without prior consent from the MPO (PhotoOffice@cityhall.nyc.gov). Any use or reprinting of official MPO photographs MUST use the following credit language and style: “Photographer/Mayoral Photography Office”, as listed at the end of each caption.

The GFOA also presented Stringer and the city with a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting. The CAFR program was established in 1946 to encourage and assist governments to prepare annual financial reports of the highest quality.

The city's Bureau of Accountancy is responsible for all aspects of the city’s financial accounting and reporting. It prepares the comptroller’s CAFR, which contains the city charter-mandated audited financial statements and its plain language companion called the popular annual financial report. The bureau is primarily responsible for the design and management of the city’s centralized accounting, internal control and budgeting system,and the financial management system.

The bureau is also responsible for ensuring accuracy in city agency accounting, reconciliation of more than 100 city bank accounts, investment accounting for the city’s five main pension plans and 11 variable supplement funds, servicing the city’s general obligation debt, and approving vendor information in the financial management system.

“My name as comptroller appears on the certificate,” Stinger said. “But this report is of course in recognition of the joint collaboration between my office and everyone in this room to produce the city’s financials. We’re building and showcasing New York City’s fiscal health and sound fiscal management. This is the 38th consecutive year we’ve won this prestigious award and that’s not a bad track record.”

NYC-CARF

Separately, Stringer appointed Chavon Sutton as Director, Diversity & Inclusion, which is a new position in the Bureau of Asset Management.

Sutton will report directly to the Chief Investment Officer and work with BAM staff where he will support efforts to expand engagement with and utilization of Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises and emerging manager firms for the New York City pension funds. Sutton will further BAM’s workplace diversity initiatives, coordinate its annual Emerging Manager Conference, and represent BAM in industry activities with investment managers, MWBE groups and service providers.

With over 10 years of financial experience, Sutton has worked as a corporate banker at RBC Capital Markets, as an investment advisor at JPMorgan Asset and Wealth Management, and most recently as an independent advisor at Momentum Advisors LLC, a small emerging manager.

“The Director of Diversity and Inclusion is a critical new position within our Bureau of Asset Management and Chavon Sutton is the person for the job,” Stringer said. “With years of rich and relevant experience across the financial sector, Chavon brings expertise, energy and perspective to our team. I am confident she will hit the ground running and that her work will have a positive impact on the fund’s portfolios."

A native of Newark, N.J., Sutton holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters of Arts in Journalism and a Masters of Business Administration from New York University.

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Financial reporting Government accounting Accounting Scott Stringer New York
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