Agencies Announce Working Group on Public Disclosure” (Joint Press Release: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)

     The Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of
the Currency (OCC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) today announced that the Board has established a private-
sector working group to develop options for improving the public
disclosure of financial information by banking and securities
organizations.  The OCC and the SEC will participate with the
Board in support of the effort.

   Walter Shipley, who recently retired as chairman of Chase
Manhattan Bank, has agreed to chair the Working Group on Public
Disclosure, made up of senior executives of banking and
investment organizations. The other members of the working group
are:

   *    Clemens Boersig, chief financial officer and member of the
      board, Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt, Germany.
    *    Dina Dublon, executive vice president and chief financial
      officer, Chase Manhattan Bank, New York.
    *    Douglas Flint, finance director, HSBC Holdings PLC, London.
    *    James Hance, vice chairman and chief financial officer, Bank
      of America Corp., Charlotte, N.C.
    *    Peter Hancock, chief financial officer and risk manager,
      J.P. Morgan & Co. Inc., New York.
    *    Ross Kari, executive vice president and chief financial
      officer, Wells Fargo Corp., San Francisco.
    *    Thomas H. Patrick, executive vice president and chief
      financial officer, Merrill Lynch and Co., New York.
    *    Lisa K. Polsky, managing director and chief risk officer,
      Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, New York.
    *    Marcel Rohner, member of the group managing board and chief
      risk manager, UBS AG, Zurich, Switzerland.
    *    Robert Rosholt, executive vice president and chief financial
      officer, Bank One Corporation, Chicago.
    *    Todd S. Thomson, chief financial officer, Citigroup, New
      York.
    *    Barry L. Zubrow, managing director and chief administrative
      officer, Goldman Sachs and Co., New York.
    
    
                           
    The working group will evaluate the use of enhanced public
disclosure as a means of improving the ability of markets to
evaluate the risk exposure and risk-management practices of
large, complex financial service organizations.  It will describe
industry best practices on disclosure and develop options for
improving disclosure by these entities.  A report on the group’s
recommendations will be released to the public upon completion.

   In recent years, market participants, scholars and
policymakers all have emphasized the utility of substituting
increased market discipline for additional supervision and
regulation.  This issue will become more pressing as institutions
take advantage of the opportunities in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley
Act, particularly if the pace of financial industry consolidation
continues.  Effective market discipline depends on stakeholders
of individual banking and securities organizations being provided
with the information necessary to make informed judgments about
the organizations’ risk exposure.  Although banking and
securities organizations already disclose a considerable volume
of information, it would be beneficial to re-examine the content
and scope of current practices and to look for further
opportunities to improve disclosure and enhance market
discipline.

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Media Contacts:
Federal Reserve:         Dave Skidmore (202) 452-2955
OCC:                Sam Eskenazi (202) 874-5770
SEC:                Chris Ullman  (202) 942-0020