FPA Statesman Dinner Honoring James Doty and Henry Kaufman

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Event Details

Date:
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
6:30 PM - 9:00 PM 
Location:
The New York Palace
455 Madison Ave
New York, NY
Event type
Lunch / Dinner  

Event Transcripts and Video

No financial institution is “too big to fail,” said Henry Kaufman, a Wall Street veteran and President of Kaufman and Company, Inc. upon accepting the FPA's Statesman Award from Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker. Too-big-to-fail must be forced to downsize until they no longer pose systemic risks. If we do not reverse our current course, Kaufman warned, we will follow so many leading economies towards socializing financial institutions – a move, which would undoubtedly be “detrimental to all.”

In Kaufman’s assessment concentration in the financial industry will only increase. The Dodd-Frank Act, rather than taking on too-big-to-fail, “enshrined it,” and the Fed’s monetary policy has “insulated” too-big-to-fail. The fear then for Kaufman is that the U.S. will not create a financial structure that will support a vibrant economy over the long term. At the heart of this fear both in the U.S. and abroad is the relationship between creditor and debtor – a relationship, which can swing between “harmonious and tenuous” over time.

While many observers place their hopes for global recovery on key developing nations, such as China, India and Brazil, Kaufman does not find these hopes well placed, as, “The economic vitality of these developing nations is still linked importantly to the welfare of the more advanced industrial countries.” Although America’s dominance has “receded from its earlier heights,” the U.S. remains the world’s “economic and financial center.”

James R. Doty, Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), who also received the FPA Statesman Award, explained the important role auditing plays in both democracy and capitalism. “Stable democracy depends on transparency and accountability” Doty asserted, adding that democratic hopes around the world hinge on reliable information.  Doty also discussed the value and potential of global auditing. PCAOB is currently active in 37 countries. He considered whether or not the benefits of auditing in terms of increased reliability of information could not have helped the eurozone avoid the sovereign debt crisis. Doty closed with a look east, declaring that China is not an enemy in economic terms and that he looks forward to joint inspections with the Middle Kingdom.
 

by Nicholas Burtscher

 

READ TRANSCRIPT OF HENRY KAUFMAN'S REMARKS

READ TRANSCRIPT OF PAUL VOLCKER'S REMARKS

 

Part I: Introduction by Margaret Brennan

 

 

Part II: Brendan Dougher Introducing James Doty

 

 

Part III: Remarks by James Doty

 

 

Part IV: Paul Volcker Introducing Henry Kaufman

 

 

Part V: Remarks by Henry Kaufman

 

 

Event Speakers

    • James Doty - Speaker, Award Recepient

      James R. Doty was appointed by the Securities and Exchange Commission as the Chairman of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in January 2011.
      From 1990 to 1992, Mr. Doty served as General Counsel of the SEC. In that role, Mr. Doty advised the Commission on matters of law and regulatory policy related to the Commission's oversight of U.S. securities markets, including initiatives relating to the integrity of financial reporting and disclosure standards in the context of the globalization of capital markets, enforcement practices and policies in the wake of the savings-and-loan crisis, international technical assistance and coordination efforts, and adoption of the Remedies Act of 1990.


      Prior to and following his SEC service, Mr. Doty was a partner at the law firm of Baker Botts LLP, which he first joined in 1969. At Baker Botts LLP, he practiced securities and corporate law and counseled boards of directors and audit committees on regulatory and compliance matters, including matters arising under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. He also represented the PCAOB in obtaining a successful result in the United States Supreme Court in the landmark challenge to its constitutionality, Free Enterprise Fund v. PCAOB.


      Mr. Doty was raised in Houston, Texas. He earned a B.A. in History from Rice University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University in England. He also received a M.A. in History from Harvard University before getting an L.L.B from Yale Law School.
       

    • James Doty
    • Paul Volcker - Presenter

      Paul A. Volcker was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from August 1979 to August 1987. Initially appointed to that position by President Carter for a four-year term, he was reappointed in 1983 by President Reagan.

      Over the course of his career, Mr. Volcker worked in the Federal Government for almost 30 years, serving in office under five presidents—John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. Prior to his appointment as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Mr. Volcker spent more than four years as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

      Mr. Volcker returned to private life in 1987 by joining the firm of James D. Wolfensohn & Co., Inc. as Chairman, until his retirement in 1996. He is currently serving as director of, or consultant to, a number of corporations and nonprofit organizations.

    • Paul Volcker
    • Margaret Brennan - Moderator

      Margaret Brennan is the anchor of “InBusiness with Margaret Brennan," an all-encompassing weekday business program that covers the world of high finance and investing as well as the top political, economic and consumer news impacting the global marketplace. Based in New York City, Brennan brings together interviews, analysis and perspective as the U.S. trading day gains momentum.

      Brennan's reporting at Bloomberg has brought her around the world for interviews with leading CEOs, investors and heads of state. She was the only American journalist anchoring from Tahrir Square in Cairo as Hosni Mubarak stepped down after 30 years in power.

    • Margaret Brennan
    • Henry Kaufman - Speaker, Award Recepient

      Henry Kaufman is President of Henry Kaufman & Company, Inc., a firm established in April 1988, specializing in economic and financial consulting.  For the previous 26 years, he was with Salomon Brothers Inc, where he was Managing Director, Member of the Executive Committee, and in charge of the Firm’s four research departments.  He was also a Vice Chairman of the parent company, Salomon Inc.  Before joining Salomon Brothers, Dr. Kaufman was in commercial banking and served as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

      Dr. Kaufman, who was born in 1927, received a B.A. in economics from New York University in 1948, an M.S. in finance from Columbia University in 1949, and a Ph.D in banking and finance from New York University Graduate School of Business Administration in 1958.  He also received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from New York University in 1982, and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yeshiva University in 1986, and from Trinity College in 2005.  Dr. Kaufman’s latest book, The Road to Financial Reformation, was published in August 2009.  Prior to that, he wrote On Money and Markets, A Wall Street Memoir, which was released in June, 2000.  In 1987, Dr. Kaufman was awarded the first George S. Eccles Prize for excellence in economic writing from the Columbia Business School for his book, Interest Rates, the Markets, and the New Financial World.

    • Henry Kaufman

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