WEDNESDAY JANUARY 13, 2010

Wow! A productive meeting in D.C.

Today, the independent committee assigned the task of investigating the causes of the great economic crisis held its first meeting today.  The CEO of the nation's largest financial institutions were the first to testify.

I was surprised to see that the meeting today was quite productive.  Yes, the committee railed against the CEO's for their company's roles in the crisis.  However, I thought the committee brought a high level of knowledge and sophistication to the questioning.  While the Q&A got testy at times, the focus was largely on the substance of the crisis.  There seemed to be an understanding that the matter at hand is highly complex and not a simple as the "bankers are evil" events we have seen out of Washington recently.

Sadly, it does say something about the state of our democracy when a "independent" committee can provide more sophisticating, knowledge and understanding to this complex crisis then your typical Congressional committee.

POSTED AT 1899-12-30 19:05:00.0

KEN ENTENMANN, CFA
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND
THE DIRECTOR OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Ken is a Senior Vice President and the Director of the Trust and Investment Services at Alliance Bank, N.A. He has 23 years of investment experience and oversees the management of assets totaling $1 billion. He holds a B.S. in Applied Economics and Business Management from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester. He has also earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Trust Division of the New York Banker's Association. He is also a director of the Central New York Community Foundation.

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