During a presentation on current issues in asset/liability management, Jim Clarke, Ph.D. predicted that the Federal Reserve Board would lower interest rates at their meeting on September 18, 2007.
Philadelphia, PA (August 30, 2007)—Bank consultant Jim Clarke predicted that the Federal Reserve Board would drop interest rates at its next meeting on September 18, 2007. Speaking at the Risk Management Association (RMA) eMentor Web cast last week, Clarke discussed best practices and current issues in asset liability management (ALM) based on current conditions in the interest rate environment and events surrounding the subprime crisis.
"We have been in one of the most difficult interest-rate environments since 1980-81, but bank asset liability committees need to stay patient and disciplined because it appears that we will get relief during the next month as the Fed begins to lower short-term interest rates,” said Clarke. He added that Fed futures indicate that short-term rates will be at or near 4.5% by the end of November."
Clarke, a former Villanova University finance professor, offers advice in asset/liability management to national and state banking associations and is frequently invited to speak at banking conferences. He sits on the board of two community banks and an investment company.
Additional discussions on interest-rate compression and strategies that banks can consider in the current market will take place during the RMA Annual Risk Management Conference in New Orleans, October 20-23, 2007.
RMA’s Annual Risk Management Conference is designed to help risk management professionals manage risks across the entire enterprise. It helps them in their efforts to successfully identify, assess, and manage credit risk, operational risk, and market risk.
For more information or to register for the Annual Risk Management Conference, visit RMA’s Web site, www.rmahq.org, or call Customer Care at 1-800-677-7621.
About RMA
Founded in 1914, The Risk Management Association is a not-for-profit, member-driven professional association whose sole purpose is to advance the use of sound risk principles in the financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise approach to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and operational risk.
Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, RMA has 3,000 institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as nonbank financial institutions. They are represented in the association by 18,500 risk management professionals who are chapter members in financial centers throughout North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. Visit RMA on the Web at www.rmahq.org.
Contact:
Kathleen M. Beans
RMA Public Relations Manager
215-446-4095