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NYC Business Community Comes Out in Support of Antonio Weiss Nomination for Under Secretary for Domestic Finance

December 12, 2014

The Partnership for New York City today delivered a letter signed by more than 60 of its members in support of Antonio Weiss’ nomination for Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. The letter was delivered to Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch on the Senate Committee on Finance. It notes that Weiss is a “widely respected business leader who is known for his independence, integrity and understanding of financial markets” who has “significant financial-sector expertise” — which only a small proportion of the current senior leadership of the Treasury Department has.

The full text of the letter is below.

December 12, 2014

The Honorable Ron Wyden
Chairman
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

The Honorable Orrin Hatch
Ranking Member
Committee on Finance
United States Senate
219 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Hatch,

We are writing to convey our support for Antonio Weiss to become the next Under Secretary for Domestic Finance. Antonio is exceptionally well qualified for the position by virtue of his two and a half decades in business working with companies and governments in the United States and around the world.  He is a widely respected business leader who is known for his independence, integrity and understanding of financial markets.

The Under Secretary for Domestic Finance is responsible for, among other things, management of the national debt and helping to coordinate financial regulatory matters.  Knowing Mr. Weiss, we believe his experience makes him well-suited to these tasks.  He will be a careful steward of the Treasury debt market, and he will be a voice for strong, smart, effective financial regulation.

Contrary to claims by some, only a small proportion of the current senior leadership of the Treasury Department has significant financial-sector expertise.  The finance ministry of the world’s leading economy must have deep financial expertise, and Antonio has it.

America cannot have job growth and wage growth without an expanding private sector.  Antonio understands what it takes for private companies to compete and grow.  He would be an important new voice at Treasury in support of programs and policies that promote growth and broadly shared prosperity.

Sincerely,

Candace K. Beinecke, Chair, First Eagle Fund & Chair, Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Stephen Berger, Chairman, Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC
William H. Berkman, Managing Partner, Associated Partners, LP
Mark T. Bertolini, Chairman, CEO & President, Aetna Inc.
Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Chairman & CEO, Time Warner Inc.
Kathy Bloomgarden, Chief Executive Officer, Ruder Finn, Inc.
Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman & CEO, American Express Company
H. Rodgin Cohen, Senior Chairman, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Creighton Condon, Senior Partner, Shearman & Sterling
Philippe P. Dauman, President and CEO, Viacom Inc.
Todd C. DeGarmo, Chief Executive Officer, STUDIOS Architecture
Barry Diller, Chairman & Senior Executive, IAC
Scott A. Edelman, Chairman, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
Blair W. Effron, Partner, Centerview Partners Holdings LLC
Joel S. Ehrenkranz, Senior Partner, Ehrenkranz Partners L.P.
Laurence D. Fink, Chairman & CEO, BlackRock, Inc.
Alan H. Fishman, Chairman, Ladder Capital Finance LLC
Edward C. Forst, President & CEO, Cushman & Wakefield, Inc.
Russell P. Fradin, Chief Executive Officer, SunGard
Paul Fribourg, Chairman & CEO, Continental Grain Company
Eric J. Friedman, Managing Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Mark T. Gallogly, Managing Principal, Centerbridge Partners
Kenneth M. Garschina, Principal, Mason Capital Management, LLC
Steven M. Goldman, Partner, Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP
James P. Gorman, Chairman & CEO, Morgan Stanley
Susan L. Hayes, President & CEO, Cauldwell Wingate Company
Glenn H. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Silver Lake
Kenneth M. Jacobs, Chairman & CEO, Lazard Ltd
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
Pamela Liebman, President & CEO, The Corcoran Group, Inc.
Martin Lipton, Senior Partner, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Daniel S. Loeb, CEO, Third Point LLC
Bridget A. Macaskill, President & CEO, First Eagle Investment Management, LLC
Peter L. Malkin, Chairman Emeritus, Empire State Realty Trust & Chairman, Malkin Holdings, LLC
Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, CEO & Founder, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Donald B. Marron, Chairman, Lightyear Capital
Peter W. May, President & Founding Partner, Trian Partners
Edward J. Minskoff, President, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, Inc.
Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO, Moelis & Company
Jon Oringer, Founder & CEO, Shutterstock, Inc.
Richard D. Parsons, Senior Advisor, Providence Equity Partners
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Infor
Ian C. Read, Chairman of the Board & CEO, Pfizer Inc.
Scott H. Rechler, Chairman & CEO, RXR Realty LLC
Thomas J. Reid, Managing Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Michael I. Roth, Chairman & CEO, Interpublic Group
Kevin P. Ryan, Chairman & Founder, Gilt
Ralph Schlosstein, President & CEO, Evercore Partners Inc.
Alan Schnitzer, Vice Chairman & CEO, Business & International Insurance, The Travelers  Companies, Inc.
Alan D. Schwartz, Executive Chairman, Guggenheim Partners, LLC
Stephen A. Schwarzman, Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder, The Blackstone Group
Michael C. Slocum, President, Commercial Banking, Capital One Bank
Tad Smith, President & CEO, The Madison Square Garden Company
Jerry I. Speyer, Chairman & Co-CEO, Tishman Speyer
Arthur P. Steinmetz, President & CEO, OppenheimerFunds, Inc.
James S. Tisch, President & CEO, Loews Corporation
Charles Townsend, Chief Executive Officer, Condé Nast Publications, Inc.
George H. Walker, Chairman & CEO, Neuberger Berman Group LLC
Charles Weinstein, Chief Executive Officer, EisnerAmper LLP
Kathryn S. Wylde, President & CEO, Partnership for New York City
Tim Zagat, CEO & Co-Chair, Zagat Survey LLC
Strauss Zelnick, Chief Executive Officer, ZelnickMedia Corporation

PFNYC Weiss Sign On Letter