|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | |
JULY 21, 2003
Edited by Richard S. Dunham Handicapping the New Team at Treasury Seven months after he was named Treasury Secretary, John W. Snow is finally putting his team in place. On July 9, he moved to fill two key vacancies. Snow tapped Susan C. Schwab of the University of Maryland to be his deputy and Goldman Sachs (GS ) & Co. investment banker Kenneth H.M. Leet to be Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, Treasury's key liaison to the financial markets. Both officials, who must still be confirmed, get strong early reviews. But it's not clear whether Treasury's new team will have the financial-crisis skills of departing policymaker Peter R. Fisher. Fisher, who says he's leaving the Treasury Under Secretary job in October for family reasons, helped reopen the markets after September 11 and pushed through the controversial decision to stop issuing 30-year Treasury bonds. He was considered a top candidate to take over the New York Fed but withdrew amid talk he would not get the job. The new team mixes political acumen and business knowhow. Schwab, a Capitol Hill veteran, also brings international and managerial experience to Treasury. Leet's strength is his Wall Street background and close ties to Snow. "We approached this as a big puzzle and tried to make the pieces fit together," a Treasury official says. Both are team players -- a requirement in Bushland. Schwab, 48, dean of Maryland School of Public Affairs, is filling a post that has been vacant since Kenneth W. Dam resigned on Feb. 4. Incoming Budget Director Josh Bolten had pushed one of his confidants for the job, but Treasury resisted. Snow, who had hoped to find a woman with a financial background to take the No.2 spot, couldn't come up with anyone. Schwab came to the attention of Treasury aides after Bush floated her name for a job at the U.S. Export-Import Bank. A Commerce Dept. official in George H.W. Bush's Administration, Schwab is a protégé of former Senator John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), whom she worked with for eight years in a variety of capacities. "She has a lot of the characteristics of Danforth," says well-connected GOP lobbyist Wayne L. Berman, who worked with Schwab at Commerce. "She's smart, deliberative, and deeply informed on a wide range of subjects." Given her Washington background, Schwab, who also worked at one point for Motorola (MOT ) is expected to hit the ground running. Her Hill ties should serve Snow well when he tries to sell the next installment of Bush's tax-cutting agenda to increasingly skeptical lawmakers. Her international background -- including a 1980-81 stint at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo -- shores up a weak spot at Treasury. To make up for Schwab's lack of financial experience, Snow is counting on Leet. He joins Goldman alums Bolten and Stephen Friedman, head of the National Economic Council, in the Administration. But it was Snow's decision to bring him on board. The former CSX (CSX ) Corp. CEO got to know Leet when they worked together on CSX's sale of its Sea-Land unit in 1999. Snow told aides he wanted Leet when Fisher first talked of leaving months ago. Goldman colleagues describe Leet, 45, as a creative banker with broad expertise in both smokestack industries and finance, a definite plus as he helps shape economic policy. But he lacks Fisher's nitty-gritty knowledge of the bond and currency markets. Given that, Leet is unlikely to reverse his predecessor's decision to kill off the 30-year bond. "He'll have good understandings of markets," says Senator Jon S. Corzine (D-N.J.), a former Goldman exec, "not as much as Peter Fisher but more than adequate with his horsepower, work ethic, and experience." Still, the true test will come if a financial crisis hits. By Rich Miller, with Emily Thornton in New York CAPITAL WRAPUP The Heat Is (Still) On Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) will put the financial-services biz under a microscope in hearings starting in September. On the conservative populist's agenda: the "global settlement" between Wall Street and regulators over analysts' conflicts of interest; the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley corporate reform law; and 1999 legislation that removed legal barriers to mergers among banks, insurers, and securities firms.   CAPITAL WRAPUP Corporate Board Reform The SEC is trying to mollify Corporate America while it gives shareholder activists more clout. A report due on July 15 will recommend that investors with a critical mass of shares be allowed to put director nominees on the proxy ballot at companies where a majority of shareholders voted to open up the proxy. Activists say it's a good start. Still, business is likely to oppose the move, which would curb CEOs' power to handpick directors. CAPITAL WRAPUP Not the Year of the Woman Don't expect 2004 to be a banner year for female candidates. Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, an expert on political trends involving women, says male office-seekers may have an edge. "Times of war, recession, and national security [concerns] are tough times for women's leadership," she says. Why? Many voters cling to sexual stereotypes. "We have women as tough as the men," Lake says, "[but] public perception is a little different."
| | |
 Copyright BWStory.copyright, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Policy |
Printer-Friendly Version
