Written Testimony of Gary Hall
On behalf of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
Committee on Financial Services
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Hearing entitled “Examining the Role of Municipal Bond Markets in Advancing – and
Undermining – Economic, Racial and Social Justice”

April 28, 2021

 

Chairman Green, Ranking Member Barr, Chairwoman Waters, Ranking Member McHenry, and distinguished members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to testify on behalf of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (“SIFMA”)1, and to share our members’ commitment to a fair, strong, and well-functioning municipal securities market. SIFMA commends the members of this Subcommittee for your collective focus on these important issues.

I currently sit on the board of SIFMA, the leading trade association for broker-dealers, investment banks, and asset managers operating in the U.S. and global capital markets. The combined businesses of SIFMA’s members underwrite over 90% of the new issue volume of municipal securities, represent 75% of the U.S. broker-dealer sector by revenue, and 50% of the asset management sector by assets under management.

I am a Partner and the National Head of Infrastructure and Public Finance Investment Banking at Siebert Williams Shank & Co.  (“SWS”), the nation’s largest minority-owned investment bank. SWS has alums from Historical Black College and Universities (“HBCUs”) within both our employee and partnership ranks. Hence, my firm is a huge beneficiary of talent and human capital from those educated at HBCUs and in return, has been a generous benefactor to HBCUs on an individual employee basis and as a firm. On a personal note, please know that my connection to HBCUs runs deep. Before graduating from Howard University, I attended Alcorn State University, an HBCU located in Lorman, MS. Additionally, my son is a sophomore at Howard, where he chose to follow not only my footsteps but also his mother’s paternal and maternal lineage, which have produced five and three generations of HBCU graduates, respectively. Therefore, I would like to join SIFMA by expressing appreciation on behalf of my firm, my family, and myself to the Subcommittee for bringing attention to HBCUs having fair access to the public municipal bonds markets.

My career in the municipal bonds markets includes serving as an issuer, a lawyer, and a banker. I am the immediate past Chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”), the self-regulatory organization that safeguards the $4 trillion municipal securities industry. Therefore, I know first-hand how municipal bonds are a critical funding source for infrastructure in America. These bonds finance the bridges, roads, schools, health care facilities, higher education facilities, water and sewer facilities, airports, and seaports our communities rely on. I believe that members of this Subcommittee understand and agree that investing in municipal bonds means investing in the success of American people. Such impact has become evident during these challenging times for our communities, where state and local governments are accessing the bond market to address the nation’s critical infrastructure need and refinancing existing debt to free up funds for additional projects. Congress was decisive in passing the CARES Act and authorizing the Federal Reserve’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, a program that provided key and timely support during last year’s loss of market liquidity due to the pandemic. We are thankful for this swift action that stabilized the tax-exempt market and we hope that Congress continues to recognize the importance of a healthy municipal bonds market to a robust economic recovery for the nation.