M/WBE Task Force Considers Draft Recommenations to Expand Opportunities

New York City - - Members of a state Task Force appointed by Gov. David Paterson met Thursday in Manhattan to consider and comment on 27 draft recommendations to increase participation by financial companies owned by women and minorities in the sale of bonds sold by New York State.

Task Force Chairman and Executive Director of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, Paul T. Williams, Jr., said: “The work of this Task Force will help jump-start growth and expansion of underutilized M/WBE financial service firms. As Governor Paterson noted when he created this Task Force, New York is the center of the global financial marketplace and, as such, we have an obligation to expand opportunities for success in it for as many firms as possible.”

The Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Task Force was created in June 2008 by Governor David A. Paterson under Executive Order 10. The Task Force will recommend M/WBE procurement guidelines for issuers of state-supported debt, as well as performance measures for all underwriting firms.

The recommended guidelines (see attached document for details) fall into four broad categories:

Underwriter request for proposals (RFP)
Underwriter performance measures
Syndicate formation and designation policies
Miscellaneous issues

Briefly, the Task Force considered recommendations under which issuers of state-supported debt would shorten their RFP cycles; adopt a universal RFP template; undertake more formal performance review of underwriters; eliminate artificial or outmoded barriers to entry; track their own performance in retaining M/WBE firms; streamline the state’s M/WBE certification process; use various designation policies to increase the use of M/WBE firms; encourage the formation of syndicates with strong M/WBE participation; consider a firm’s successful experience in other parts of the country when evaluating it for work in New York State; and, more aggressively work to create opportunities for firms, including M/WBE firms, to earn Senior Manager status on bond marketings.

The draft guidelines were written in large measure based on information gathered at a September public hearing of the Task Force at which 21 firms presented testimony. Additional information was generated through research of the successful M/WBE practices and policies in other jurisdictions.

Each year the State of New York and its public authorities issue bonds for state-supported facilities and programs. Investment banks and underwriters are hired to assist the state in these transactions, valued at billions of dollars annually. Of the $22 billion in state bonds sold since 2004, only four percent of the transactions were managed or co-senior managed by M/WBE firms.

The Task Force is comprised of the executive directors or presidents of the Dormitory Authority, the New York State Housing Finance Agency, the New York State Thruway Authority, the Empire State Development Corp., the Environmental Facilities Corp., and three members appointed by Gov. Paterson.

The Task Force will next meet October 30 in Albany to adopt a final set of recommendations.

Consolidated Recommendations for the M/WBE Task Force