Stephen Schwarzman and His 7-Step Program
In an article from The New York Times titled “Stephen Schwarzman’s Seven-Step Program” describes how Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the Blackstone Group, has designed seven principles that he believes would serve as effective guides for legislators in establishing financial system regulations.
For principles 1 and 2, Stephen Schwarzman outlines a call for “common accounting principles” across national boundaries and comparable regulatory structures in major global markets. His third principle is a call for absolute transparency for financial statements, stressing that nothing should be canceled out, while his fourth principle calls for “full disclosure of all financial instruments,” putting emphasis on the need of a regulator who will monitor all derivatives.
Stephen Schwarzman’s fifth principle is the call for regulation of all financial institutions, particularly bringing up hedge funds, which he considers as “major categories of borrowers.” For Principle 6, Stephen Schwarzman states that new accounting rules have brought trouble to financial firms, putting the pressure of writing down their asset values to “artificial, fire-sale prices.”
Finally, Schwarzman’s last principle is a call for a system of regulation that, instead of complex rules, is based on guiding principles joined with strong disclosure and supervision.
Stephen Schwarzman is an American businessman and investor listed by Forbes as one of “The 400 Richest Americans” of 2008. Stephen Schwarzman is the Chairman and Co-founder of the Blackstone Group, a global private equity, investment management, and financial advisory firm headquartered in New York City. He started his career at the investment bank Lehman Brothers. He rose from the ranks when he was elected Managing Director in 1978 and soon led the firm’s global mergers and acquisitions team.
In 1985, Stephen Schwarzman and partner Peter Peterson formed Blackstone with a $400,000 seed capital. Since the firm’s founding in 1985, Stephen Schwarzman has been actively involved in all phases of its development.
Steve Schwarzman also serves as Board Chairman of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and as member on the boards of several nonprofit groups.
Steve Schwarzman graduated with a BA from Yale University and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Article Source: New York Times Dealbook
Steve Schwarzman is a member of the Blackstone Group.
Harbus, the independent student weekly for the Harvard Business School, recently published an interview with Stephen Schwarzman.
Read up on the Bloomberg profile of the Blackstone Group.