Arthur Levitt

The Subprime Primer

Drawing on his four decades of experience as head of a stock exchange, brokerage house, and the SEC, Arthur Levitt explains in clear, understandable language how the subprime mess happened and what the resulting credit crunch means to businesses and investors of all sizes and what impact it will have on new, dynamic areas of our markets such as private equity and hedge funds. He brings deep insight into what Washington is likely to do to respond, and what it should do, and how any new regulatory moves will affect the US and global economy.

Take On The Street

Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt’s sympathies have always been with the everyday investor. From establishing a website that allows free and easy access to corporate filings and investor education materials to holding numerous investor town meetings throughout the country to hear investors’ concerns, Levitt has always made their needs a priority. In this presentation, based on his best-selling book of the same name, Levitt reveals the tactics of wise investment in plain language and spells out how to intelligently invest in mutual funds and the stock market. His advice, aimed not only at individual investors but also at brokerages and investment houses, shows audiences how to interpret annual reports, understand press releases and draw from more from reliable sources.

Pensions – The Coming Crisis

The pension crisis for U.S. businesses and employees is once again making headlines, threatening to engulf U.S. automakers as it did with steel companies and the airline industry. For three decades, the current pension structure has allowed a “shell-game” system of pension accounting to develop that misleads taxpayers and investors about the true fiscal health of their cities and companies, while allowing management to make promises to workers that saddle future generations with huge costs. Solutions are underway: proposals to shore up the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) are making their way through Congress. However, the problem will only get worse unless immediate action is taken to bring accuracy, transparency and accountability to pension accounting. Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, provides an all-too-salient discussion of the current pension problems faced by today’s economy, along with recommendations about repairing them – for both the short and long term.

The Economic Future

Almost every day on television you will see ads that promise to clean up your credit score, give you more money, and put you in the car or house of your dreams. As amusing (or annoying) as these ads might be, they are important because the services and products that companies are offering are part and parcel of the subprime mess or credit crisis that we are seeing today. Arthur Levitt draws a direct line from places like the Mortgage Center to Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, the health of the stock market, the actions of the Federal Reserve, and the economic future of the United States and the entire world.

Trust - What it Means and How to Maintain It

As we find ourselves in an economic environment in which credit is tight, the dollar has lost much of its relative value, and confidence in our financial system has been badly shaken, consumers have curtailed their spending, and businesses are facing lower profits. Levitt references the Enron and Worldcom debacles to instill a glimmer of hope for our economic future: restoring trust. Trust, according to Levitt, is the lifeblood of our markets: You will only invest in a company if you trust the numbers they give you; you will only put your retirement in a certain mutual fund if you trust that the fund's managers are being held accountable for their decisions; and you will only lend anyone money if you trust that there is a way to enforce the terms of your loan agreement. Levitt provides reasonable, plausible solutions to curtail the financial dovetail, including regulations standardization across state boundaries, palatable disclosures, and the prohibition of predatory lending practices.

The Future of Corporate Governance

Perhaps nothing's more important – and more difficult – than navigating the compliance and regulatory issues governing today’s market. For corporations to survive and thrive, a clear coherent understanding of Sarbanes-Oxley regulation, along with current and potential regulation is not only important, but necessary. Former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt provides audiences with innumerable strategies to continue being compliant – and avoid penalties and investigations.