WASHINGTON--Leaders in the socially responsible investing (SRI) movement, policymakers and legal experts will gather in Washington, D.C. on September 22nd to discuss topics of key importance to investors, including the signing into law of a milestone financial reform package, the U.S. Treasury Department's efforts to bolster community investing, the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, and the passage of Benefit or “B” Corporation legislation by several states.

 

 The Public Policy and Sustainable Portfolios event is produced by the Social Investment Forum (SIF), the U.S. membership association for professionals, firms, institutions and organizations engaged in socially responsible and sustainable investing. The symposium will take place at the Pew Charitable Trusts' LEED-certified conference center in downtown Washington, DC.   Event registration is open at

 

https://www.socialinvest.org//events/public_event_display.cfm?Event_ID=171.  

 

Key speakers will include:

 

• Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), who will talk about her work on financial reform legislation in the House Committee on Financial Services, the critical components to watch during this implementation phase, and unfinished business in this area.

 

• Don Graves, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Small Business, Housing and Community Development at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, who will discuss a Treasury initiative to help a highly targeted, mission-driven group of financial institutions to expand their lending in low- and moderate-income communities in the wake of the financial crisis. 

 

• Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Annette Nazareth, a partner at law firm Davis Polk, who will share her perspectives on the SEC's and other regulators' actions to implement the sweeping financial reform legislation and the implications of these changes for socially responsible and sustainable investors.

 

• New York State Senator Daniel L. Squadron, whose 25th New York State Senatorial District includes Wall Street.  Senator Squadron will talk about his sponsorship of Benefit or B Corporation legislation pending in the New York State Senate. 

 

• Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, Counsel for The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law's Democracy Program, who will discuss the legal implications of the Citizens United ruling, focusing on shareholders' use of derivative lawsuits as a remedy to curb runaway corporate contributions. 

 

“With so much happening in Washington, DC, right now to implement the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and to help our nation recover from the crippling financial crisis, it is a unique opportunity for our industry to gather to discuss the public policy road map ahead,” said Lisa Woll, CEO of the Social Investment Forum.  

 

Brown Flynn, Calvert Investments, CRF USA, Sentinel Investments, Walden Asset Management, New Amsterdam Partners, and the Pew Charitable Trusts are sponsors of the symposium.

 

The full agenda and speaker biographies for the event can be viewed at:  http://www.socialinvest.org/events/Symposium2010Agenda.cfm.  

 

 

 

The Social Investment Forum (http://www.socialinvest.org) advances investment practices that consider environmental, social and corporate governance criteria to generate long-term competitive financial returns and positive societal impact. The Social Investment Forum is the U.S. membership association for professionals, firms, institutions and organizations engaged in socially responsible and sustainable investing (SRI). SIF members support SRI through such strategies as portfolio selection analysis, shareholder advocacy and community investing.