Message from the Chair, Karl J. Ege

The last few weeks have certainly been among the most dramatic in the lives of business lawyers, particularly those practicing in the financial services industry and those whose clients depend on effective and efficient equity and debt markets to support their businesses. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 has been adopted by Congress, signed by the President, and has become law. However, we will not know for some time whether this Act will provide the necessary liquidity to the credit markets to enable them to return to some semblance of normal activity.

Sensing the gathering storm of the economic crisis, and in response to the Treasury Department's March 2008 "Blueprint for a Modernized Financial Regulatory Structure", in August, the Section created a Study Group on Financial Services Reform, co-chaired by Giovanni Prezioso of Cleary Gottlieb, former General Counsel of the SEC, and Bill Kroener of Sullivan & Cromwell, former General Counsel of the FDIC. Members of the Study Group were drawn from among the most experienced of our Section's members with a wide range of backgrounds and expertise in financial services. The Study Group will be focusing on legislative proposals that call for changes in the regulatory framework for financial institutions, whether based on the Treasury Department's Blueprint or otherwise. I will ask each of our Section's committees to assign an individual as liaison to the Study Group to ensure that all views and positions are heard and considered as legislation and regulatory changes are proposed. The work of the Study Group will be shared broadly with Section members through periodic reports and online access.

Several of our committees with responsibility for financial services are holding meetings within the next few months. Each plans to devote considerable attention to the current economic crisis, the Economic Stabilization Act, and the impact of these events on the practices of business lawyers. We are in an unprecedented period of our Nation's history, and the bold measures currently being taken by government and the private sector will have dramatic long-term consequences for our members and their clients. It is the goal of the Section to remain as relevant as possible to our members as these developments occur.

As we move full-speed into the election season, the American Bar Association has created an online resource for lawyers, bar associations and the public to ensure that elections are conducted in a fair and lawful manner. You may access this resource from the ABA Web site at www.abanet.org/vote/2008/.

It has been said that to live in interesting times is both a blessing and a curse. We are certainly living in interesting times; let's hope that it proves to be a blessing for all concerned.