SIFMA: Blythe Masters, Chair Emeritus

Blythe Masters, SIFMA Chair Emeritus

Blythe Masters is Chair Emeritus of SIFMA, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. SIFMA's mission is to bring together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers in order to develop policies and practices which strengthen financial markets and which encourage capital availability, job creation and economic growth while building trust and confidence in the financial industry.

Click here to watch a short video about SIFMA that includes interview excerpts with Blythe Masters as well as other SIFMA executives.  The video includes information about SIFMA's perspective on changing regulations in the financial system and the salient challenges facing the banking industry.

ABOUT SIFMA
SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).

"We seek to empower individuals, organizations, and communities to make educated, informed decisions about financial issues, policies and practices for themselves and others. We accomplish this by providing trustworthy, relevant information, opinions and tools that reflect the expertise and standard of excellence of SIFMA."

SIFMA HISTORY

The origins of SIFMA go back to 1912 with the founding of the Investment Bankers Association of America (IBA) two years after the American Bankers Association rejected a request by a group of members to start an investment banking section.

In 1971, IBA merged with the Association of American Stock Exchange Firms (ASEF) to form the Securities Industry Association (SIA) and unify the voices of the related interests. Following the merger, the Public Securities Association (PSA), comprised of IBA’s Municipal Securities and Government Bonds Committees (est. 1918), incorporated as an independent organization representing securities firms and banks in the municipal, Treasury and federal agency securities markets. The name of the PSA was changed to The Bond Markets Association (TBMA) in 1997.

In 2006, the SIA and TBMA merged, bringing together the shared interests of their memberships. By representing the many segments of the financial industry, SIFMA has become the voice of the financial industry that is uniquely suited to provide trusted and expert information to policymakers, regulators, media, industry participants and the general public about the financial industry.

source: http://www.sifma.org/