Conference Agenda
Thursday, October 16, 2008
7:00 AM - 8:15 AM
Registration and Continental Breakfast
Sponsored:
8:15 AM - 8:30 AM
Opening Comments
Michael Stanton
Publisher
The Bond Buyer
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Keynote Address
Tom Brown
Founder
Bankstocks.com
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Metropolitan Transportation Authority and New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund
Preparing for a shortfall. The regions' two mass transit operators are facing the toughest capital funding crisis in their history. There's broad support for the expansion plans of the MTA and NJ Transit, but volatile real estate and energy taxes combined with the ever increasing cost of infrastructure is creating a gap between needs and means. Hear from key policy officials about the extent of the problem, potential fixes and what they will mean for new and existing bond holders.
Moderator:
Nicholas Chesla
The Bond Buyer
Managing Editor
Mary DiMartino
Executive Director
J.P. Morgan
Nicole Johnson
Senior Vice President
Moody's Investors Service
Kris Kolluri
Commissioner
Department of Transportation, State of New Jersey
Pat McCoy
Director of Finance
MTA
10:00 AM - 10:20 AM
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
Hal Johnson
Deputy General Counsel
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board
10:20 AM - 10:50 AM
Networking Break
Sponsored by:
10:50 AM - 12:00 PM
The Credit and Liquidity Crisis: Is the Worst Over?
As the credit market weakened, municipalities felt the effect. The shake-up has affected margins for both big and small companies as well as individual investors. The tax-exempt auction-rate securities market was drained in its liquidity crisis. Is this the end?
Moderator:
Marisa DeMato
Esquire
Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, LLP
Stephen DeGroat
Senior Vice President
Dexia Credit Local
George Friedlander
Managing Director
Citi
Paul Williams
Executive Director
Dormitory Authority of New York State
12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Lunch and Keynote Address on Healthcare
Marlene Zurack
Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President
New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
Controlling Property Taxes in New York and New Jersey
New Yorkers' state and local tax burden is more than 20 percent above the national average and New Jersey taxpayers bear the heaviest burden in the nation - 11.8 cents for every dollar earned, a tenth of a penny higher than New York. Leaders of both states say the issue has reached crisis proportions and are proposing major steps to reverse the trend. What's on the table and is there political appetite for these moves?
Moderator:
Amy Resnick
Editor In Chief
The Bond Buyer
Elizabeth Bergman
AVP/Analyst
Moody's Investors Service
Charles Brecher
Executive Vice President & Director of Research
Citizens Budget Commission
Michael Solomon
Director
Merrill Lynch & Co.
2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Tappan Zee Bridge Project: Financing in Sight?
The three-mile long Tappan Zee Bridge that spans the Hudson River connecting Rockland and Westchester counties north of New York City opened in 1955 and now requires either major renovations or a replacement that could cost as much as $14.5 billion. About 140,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day. What will the financing options for the project entail? Public-private partnerships?
Moderator:
Mary Francoeur
Managing Director
Assured Guaranty
Astrid Glynn
Commissioner
Department of Transportation, State of New York
Michael McDermott
Senior Director
FitchRatings
Michael Uhouse
Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance
Scotia Capital
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Networking Break
Sponsored by:
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Keynote Address
William C. Thompson, Jr.
Comptroller
New York City
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Public Finance Round Table: What's Ahead for the Street?
As the municipal market closes out a year of unprecedented turmoil, governments across the New York metropolitan region are preparing for a second wave of change, as Wall Street's slumping revenues cast a shadow across state and local budgets. This warrants the question - what's ahead for the Street? When all the dust settles, who will remain standing? Wall Street's declining profitability is impacting the regional governments. Is this likely to be a sustained downturn or will it plateau and return in a year or so?
Moderator:
Michael Decker
Regional Bond Dealers Association
Panelists:
Joe Branca
Managing Director
Banc of America Securities
Robert Dailey
Managing Director
J.P. Morgan
Raymond Murphy
Vice President
First Southwest Company
Robert Rich
Managing Director
PFM
New York City Council Finance Chair David Weprin
Senior Vice President
Sterne, Agee & Leach