New York, May 26, 2009 – Morrison & Foerster LLP announced today that Sheila Bair, Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), will receive the first annual Regulatory Innovation Award. Morrison & Foerster established this award through the Burton Foundation to honor an academic or non-elected public official whose innovative ideas have made a significant contribution to the discourse on regulatory reform in the arena of corporate governance, securities, capital markets or financial institutions. Bair was selected by an independent panel of academics and practitioners.
Bair was early to raise concerns regarding subprime lending and to push for direct assistance to distressed homeowners. The FDIC’s programs, including the debt guarantee program, adopted in response to the financial crisis have been among the most successful in promoting interbank lending and restoring stability to the markets. Sheila C. Bair was sworn in as the 19th Chairman of the FDIC in June 2006, and is currently serving a five-year term. Bair will be honored on June 15 at the Library of Congress and will be joined by other Burton Award recipients, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Keith C. Wetmore, Chair of the firm, noted that, “Sheila Bair has been at the forefront of efforts to address the fallout from the financial crisis. She has led the FDIC and has worked closely with other financial regulators to implement a number of vital regulatory initiatives to address this turbulent economy. We are delighted to celebrate Chairman Bair for her groundbreaking thinking and true leadership, which has made and continues to make a difference. We at Morrison & Foerster believe that new ideas on regulatory reform such as those offered by Chairman Bair are essential in guiding the world through this current financial crisis.”
Members of the Regulatory Innovation Award Selection Committee were: John G. Finneran, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Capital One Financial Corporation; Peter Tufano, Sylvan C. Coleman Professor of Financial Management at Harvard Business School; Michael S. Barr, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School; David Lynn, Morrison & Foerster partner and former Chief Counsel of the Division of Corporation Finance at the Securities and Exchange Commission; and Barbara Mendelson, Morrison & Foerster partner, as Chair.
About the Burton Awards
The Burton Foundation is a volunteer, not-for-profit, academic organization concentrating on legal writing. With tax-exempt status as a 501 (c)(3) corporation, it offers full tax deductibility for contributors.