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CRE Finance Council Forums

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Issuers Forum

The Issuers Forum provides an opportunity for issuers and originators of loans for securitization to interact and discuss issues critical to the securitized mortgage sector. Through this dialogue, Forum members will share insights and develop solutions to issues common to all market participants.

Chair: Brigid Mattingly, Wells Fargo
Chair-Elect: Shaishav Agarwal, Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.
Past-Chair: Jane Lam, Morgan Stanley



Overview of Forum Procedures and Process  (members only)
 

View the Issuers Forum Roster (members only)
 

Sign up for the Issuers Forum  (members only)

Contact Rohit Narayanan for Issuers Forum related questions.

Forum Related News

News

Forums Update: Issuers Spotlight

April 15, 2025

Brigid Mattingly (Chair), Shaishav Agarwal (Chair-Elect) and Jane Lam (Past-Chair) form the Issuer Forum’s “Leadership Working Group,” which sets agendas and priorities for the Forum and represents this constituency on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

Why it matters: Each Forum interacts with Issuer Forum members to address issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. CREFC works closely with Forum leaders and members to:

  • Ensure all voices are heard,
  • Assist in finding consensus amidst disparate and converging views,
  • Share those views when appropriate with regulators and legislators, working alongside CREFC’s experienced Government Relations Team, and
  • Develop new best practices and monitor existing ones.
Key Focus Areas for Issuers include:
  • Market volatility tied to tariff announcements and geopolitical instability.
  • Preparing for continued volume in CMBS issuance, particularly in floating-rate single-asset/single-borrower (SASB) transactions.
  • Challenges in securitizing pari-passu pieces considering conduit transaction sizes and the execution timing on conduit transactions.
  • Managing office maturities in 2025 and the bifurcation between Class-A and Class-B properties and below.
  • Value of cash-management structures in conduit lending and alternate credit enhancements.
Looking ahead: Leaders are concerned about the potential negative impacts of financial market volatility and the current macro environment as both could create challenges in the execution of new-issue conduit and SASB transactions. The Forum remains focused on sourcing loans and bringing securitizations to market, while bridging the needs of borrowers and investors.

Key Policy Issues:

  • 2025 Tax Legislation: The new administration has begun work on reauthorizing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and is considering a number of tax issues impacting businesses and individuals.
  • Rule 15c2-11 Public Disclosure of 144A Bonds: The SEC previously issued an order exempting 144A fixed-income securities from SEC 15c2-11 disclosure. CREFC and its members urged the SEC and Congress to take action to prevent the application of 15c2-11 to fixed-income securities. On November 22, 2024, the SEC issued a ‘No Action’ letter, with no expiration date, that exempts fixed-income securities from the disclosures. The exemption order was a major win for the industry.
What’s Next?
 
  • Forum leaders will present an update on their Forum at CREFC’s Annual Conference in New York (June 9-11, 2025).
  • Also at the June Annual Conference, the chairs will welcome the next Chair-Elect to join their leadership slate.
To join the Issuers Forum, please register here.

For any forum related questions, please contact Rohit Narayanan (RNarayanan@crefc.org).

Contact  

Rohit Narayanan
Managing Director,
Industry Initiatives
646.884.7569
rnarayanan@crefc.org
Spring 2025
The information provided herein is general in nature and for educational purposes only. CRE Finance Council makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, usefulness, or suitability of the information provided. The information should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment, commercial or other advice, and CRE Finance Council disclaims all liability for any such reliance. © 2025 CRE Finance Council. All rights reserved.
Forums Update: Issuers Spotlight
April 15, 2025
Brigid Mattingly (Chair), Shaishav Agarwal (Chair-Elect) and Jane Lam (Past-Chair) form the Issuer Forum’s “Leadership Working Group,” which sets agendas and priorities for the Forum and represents this constituency on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

News

The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

June 11, 2024

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual June Conference


NEW YORK, June 11, 2024 –
The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was introduced at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City.

CREFC’s Forums represent specific market constituencies that drive the U.S. commercial real estate finance industry. Forums include:

  • Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors
  • B-Piece Investors
  • GSE/Multifamily Lenders
  • Investment-Grade Bondholders
  • Issuers
  • Portfolio Lenders
  • Servicers

Each of these Forums interacts and addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. CREFC’s Forums manage disparate and converging market views, advocate a consensus of positions to policymakers and lawmakers, educate members, develop market best practices and standards, and work toward the betterment of the entire commercial real estate finance market.

The Incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

Alternative Lenders & High Yield Investors. CREFC welcomes Rachel Hunter-Goldman (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Samantha Rotchford (MSD) as Chair, and Samir Tejpaul (Square Mile Capital Investments) as Past Chair.

B-Piece Investors: CREFC welcomes Frank Yin (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Peter Lindner (Rialto) as Chair, and Jason Nick (LNR) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Lyndsay Stephenson (Prime Finance Partners) served as Past Chair.

GSE/Multifamily Lenders: CREFC welcomes David Haynes (CBRE) as Chair-Elect, Ahmed Hasan (Capital One) as Chair, and Kate Whalen (BMO) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, the Past Chair was Emily Schultz (Berkadia Commercial Mortgage). Alonzo White (Fannie Mae) and Jason Griest (Freddie Mac) serve as government-sponsored enterprise representatives.

Investment-Grade Bondholders: CREFC welcomes Adam Smith (DWS) as Chair-Elect, Rajesh Bansal (Quiq Capital) as Chair, and Richard Razza (Webster Bank) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jane Rivers (T. Rowe Price) served as Past Chair.

Issuers: CREFC welcomes Shaishav Agarwal (Deutsche Bank) as Chair-Elect, Brigid Mattingly (Wells Fargo) as Chair, and Jane Lam (Morgan Stanley) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, David Schell (BMO Capital Markets) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Banks: CREFC welcomes Kristin Khanna (Barclays) as Chair-Elect, Rob Grudzinski (U.S. Bank) as Chair, and Scott Dixon (Truist) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jonathan Salzinger (Bank of America) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Insurance Company: CREFC welcomes Melissa Farrell (PGIM) as Chair-Elect, Kevin Pivnick (Blackstone) as Chair, and Chris Miculis (Nuveen) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stefanie Stewart (Voya Investment Management) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Servicing Administration: CREFC welcomes Dana Jo Martino (Berkadia) as Chair-Elect, Adam Fox (Fitch Ratings) as Chair, and Leslie Hayton (Wells Fargo) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stacy Ackermann (K&L Gates) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Special Situations: CREFC welcomes Alex Killick (CWCapital) as Chair-Elect, Pam Dent (Freddie Mac) as Chair, and Tony Yousif (SVN) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Andrea Helm (Midland Loan Services) served as Past Chair.


“We want to welcome the new members of our CREFC industry Forums and thank existing and past Forum members for their dedication and excellent work,” said Lisa Pendergast, Executive Director of CREFC.


“For 30 years, CREFC has served as the voice of the now $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry and CREFC’s industry Forums continue to play a key role in ensuring all industry voices are heard and respected. CREFC’s Forums serve a vital industry function, as they represent key components of the CRE finance markets. A core function of Forum leaders is to work toward consensus among their constituents and then advocate those positions to other market segments and to policy and lawmakers. Forum leaders are also charged with assisting the development of industry best practices and implementing new initiatives critical to their business sectors. I and the entire CREFC community are grateful for our Forum leaders and their contributions and dedication to CRE finance.” 

Contact:

Aleksandrs Rozens

arozens@crefc.org

646-884-7567

Contact 

Aleksandrs Rozens
Senior Director, Communications

The information provided herein is general in nature and for educational purposes only. CRE Finance Council makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, usefulness, or suitability of the information provided. The information should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment, commercial or other advice, and CRE Finance Council disclaims all liability for any such reliance. © 2023 CRE Finance Council. All rights reserved.
The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums
June 11, 2024
The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums.

News

The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums

June 11, 2024

New Chairs and Chair-Elects Introduced at Annual June Conference

The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was introduced at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City.

CREFC’s Forums represent specific market constituencies that drive the U.S. commercial real estate finance industry. Forums include:

  • Alternative Lenders and High Yield Investors
  • B-Piece Investors
  • GSE/Multifamily Lenders
  • Investment-Grade Bondholders
  • Issuers
  • Portfolio Lenders
  • Servicers


Each of these Forums interacts and addresses issues critical to their business sector and works to achieve solutions that serve a common purpose. CREFC’s Forums manage disparate and converging market views, advocate a consensus of positions to policymakers and lawmakers, educate members, develop market best practices and standards, and work toward the betterment of the entire commercial real estate finance market.

The Incoming slate of Forum leaders includes:

Alternative Lenders & High Yield Investors: CREFC welcomes Rachel Hunter-Goldman (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Samantha Rotchford (MSD) as Chair, and Samir Tejpaul (Square Mile Capital Investments) as Past Chair.

B-Piece Investors: CREFC welcomes Frank Yin (KKR) as Chair-Elect, Peter Lindner (Rialto) as Chair, and Jason Nick (LNR) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Lyndsay Stephenson (Prime Finance Partners) served as Past Chair.

GSE/Multifamily Lenders: CREFC welcomes David Haynes (CBRE) as Chair-Elect, Ahmed Hasan (Capital One) as Chair, and Kate Whalen (BMO) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, the Past Chair was Emily Schultz (Berkadia Commercial Mortgage). Alonzo White (Fannie Mae) and Jason Griest (Freddie Mac) serve as government-sponsored enterprise representatives.

Investment-Grade Bondholders: CREFC welcomes Adam Smith (DWS) as Chair-Elect, Rajesh Bansal (Quiq Capital) as Chair, and Richard Razza (Webster Bank) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jane Rivers (T. Rowe Price) served as Past Chair.

Issuers: CREFC welcomes Shaishav Agarwal (Deutsche Bank) as Chair-Elect, Brigid Mattingly (Wells Fargo) as Chair, and Jane Lam (Morgan Stanley) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, David Schell (BMO Capital Markets) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Banks: CREFC welcomes Kristin Khanna (Barclays) as Chair-Elect, Rob Grudzinski (U.S. Bank) as Chair, and Scott Dixon (Truist) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Jonathan Salzinger (Bank of America) served as Past Chair.

Portfolio Lenders – Insurance Company: CREFC welcomes Melissa Farrell (PGIM) as Chair-Elect, Kevin Pivnick (Blackstone) as Chair, and Chris Miculis (Nuveen) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stefanie Stewart (Voya Investment Management) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Servicing Administration: CREFC welcomes Dana Jo Martino (Berkadia) as Chair-Elect, Adam Fox (Fitch Ratings) as Chair, and Leslie Hayton (Wells Fargo) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Stacy Ackermann (K&L Gates) served as Past Chair.

Servicers – Special Situations: CREFC welcomes Alex Killick (CWCapital) as Chair-Elect, Pam Dent (Freddie Mac) as Chair, and Tony Yousif (SVN) as Past Chair. In 2023-2024, Andrea Helm (Midland Loan Services) served as Past Chair.


“We want to welcome the new members of our CREFC industry Forums and thank existing and past Forum members for their dedication and excellent work,” said Lisa Pendergast, Executive Director of CREFC.

“For 30 years, CREFC has served as the voice of the now $6 trillion commercial real estate finance industry and CREFC’s industry Forums continue to play a key role in ensuring all industry voices are heard and respected. CREFC’s Forums serve a vital industry function, as they represent key components of the CRE finance markets. A core function of Forum leaders is to work toward consensus among their constituents and then advocate those positions to other market segments and to policy and lawmakers. Forum leaders are also charged with assisting the development of industry best practices and implementing new initiatives critical to their business sectors. I and the entire CREFC community are grateful for our Forum leaders and their contributions and dedication to CRE finance.”

 

Contact 

Aleksandrs Rozens
Senior Director, Communications

The information provided herein is general in nature and for educational purposes only. CRE Finance Council makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, usefulness, or suitability of the information provided. The information should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment, commercial or other advice, and CRE Finance Council disclaims all liability for any such reliance. © 2023 CRE Finance Council. All rights reserved.
The CRE Finance Council Announces New Chairs for Industry Forums
June 11, 2024
The CRE Finance Council (CREFC) announced today new Chairs for the 2024-2025 industry Forums. The new Forum leadership was introduced at CREFC’s Annual June Conference in New York City.

News

Forum Spotlight: Issuers 

March 6, 2023

Together, David, Jane and Dan form the “Leadership Working Group” for the Issuers Forum. The group sets agendas and priorities for the forum and represents the issuer community on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

Key Issuers Focus Areas

  • Maintaining disciplined underwriting practices that account for today’s increased uncertainty around certain asset classes and today’s higher interest rate environment
  • Navigating evolving preferences of investment-grade bondholders and B-piece buyers
  • Restoring robust issuance of CRE CLOs while SOFR remains elevated and transaction volumes remain low
  • Ensuring that we proactively manage regulatory changes and retrospectively evaluate previously implemented regulatory measures, such as risk retention, to determine if modifications are necessary

Looking ahead, CMBS and CRE CLO issuers are cautiously optimistic that more meaningful issuance returns in 2H23 as capital markets stabilize and issuers capitalize on increased borrower demand for shorter term, fixed rate loans. In the interim, we remain focused on improving transparency, liquidity, and performance with the goal of making CMBS more competitive and increasing market share.

Key Policy Issues:

  • SEC’s Conflicts of Interest in Securitization Proposal: The proposal would limit CMBS and CRE CLO sponsors from certain transactions in the first year after issuance.
  • Addressing a threat to 144A markets (15c2-11): An SEC application of 15c2-11 to fixed income could require public information disclosure on SASB and CRE CLO transactions starting in 2025.
  • SEC’s Climate Reporting Rule: The final rule is expected imminently. While the rule will not cover ABS, the framework is expected to be a key standard for all climate reporting in the financial space.

What’s Next: Forum Leaders are seeking nominations for the next Chair Elect to join their leadership slate and look forward to presenting CREFC members with an update on their forum at the Annual June Conference in New York City.

To join the Issuers Forum, please register here. For any forum related questions, please contact Kathleen Olin (kolin@crefc.org).

Contact 

Lisa Pendergast
Executive Director
646.884.7570
lpendergast@crefc.org

Raj Aidasani
Managing Director, Research
646.884.7566
raidasani@crefc.org

Issuers Forum Leadership
The information provided herein is general in nature and for educational purposes only. CRE Finance Council makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, usefulness, or suitability of the information provided. The information should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment, commercial or other advice, and CRE Finance Council disclaims all liability for any such reliance. © 2023 CRE Finance Council. All rights reserved.
Forum Spotlight: Issuers
March 6, 2023
Together, David, Jane and Dan form the “Leadership Working Group” for the Issuers Forum.

News

Issuer Forum Highlight

September 26, 2022

Together, David, Jane and Dan form the “Leadership Working Group” for the Issuers Forum set agendas and priorities for the forum, as well as represent the constituency on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

Key Issuers Focus Areas

  • Improving competitive positioning of securitized lenders, especially in light of significant interest rate and credit spread volatility
  • Enhancing transparency within the CMBS market both pre- and post-securitization with a current emphasis on standardizing disclosure and reporting across the CRE CLO sector
  • Maintaining open dialogue with other market participants to help promote responsible lending, including incorporating feedback on structural and documentation enhancements necessary to improve both the borrower experience and loan performance
  • Balancing conduit pools to account for evolving investor preferences across property types and other credit concerns
  • Ensuring that we proactively manage regulatory changes such as LIBOR transition and also retrospectively evaluate previously implemented regulatory measures such as risk retention to determine if any modifications would be beneficial

Looking ahead, leaders are concerned that recent volatility in rates and deteriorating capital markets conditions may disproportionately impact CMBS issuance in the near term. That said, we remain focused on improving transparency, liquidity, and performance to best position the sector to capitalize on opportunities and grow market share as conditions stabilize.

What’s Next: Forum Leaders are planning a virtual forum wide legislative and regulatory policy update and will soon be formulating the agenda for CREFC’s January Conference.

To join the Issuers Forum, please register here. For any forum related questions, please contact Kathleen Olin (kolin@crefc.org).

Contact

Lisa Pendergast
Executive Director
646.884.7570
lpendergast@crefc.org

Raj Aidasani
Managing Director, Research
646.884.7566
raidasani@crefc.org
Issuers Forum Leadership
Leaders are concerned that recent volatility in rates and deteriorating capital markets conditions may disproportionately impact CMBS issuance in the near term. That said, we remain focused on improving transparency, liquidity, and performance to best position the sector to capitalize on opportunities and grow market share as conditions stabilize.
The information provided herein is general in nature and for educational purposes only. CRE Finance Council makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, usefulness, or suitability of the information provided. The information should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment, commercial or other advice, and CRE Finance Council disclaims all liability for any such reliance. © 2022 CRE Finance Council. All rights reserved.
Issuer Forum Highlight
September 26, 2022
Together, David, Jane and Dan form the “Leadership Working Group” for the Issuers Forum set agendas and priorities for the forum, as well as represent the constituency on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

News

CREFC Issuers Forum

February 7, 2022

Meet our leadership team:

CHAIR CHAIR-ELECT PAST-CHAIR
 
Daniel J. Vinson
Managing Director –
Head of CMBS
and CLO Structured
Finance
Barclays Bank PLC
David Schell
Managing Director
and Head of CMBS
Capital Markets and
Securitization
BMO Capital Markets

Rick Simpson
Past-Chair,
Managing Director
Citigroup Global
Markets Inc.

Together, Dan, David and Rick form the “Leadership Working Group” for the Issuers Forum and set agendas and priorities for the forum, as well as represent the constituency on CREFC’s Policy Committee.

Current issues include:

• ESG,

• LIBOR to SOFR transition,

• CMBS enhancements,

• CLO reporting standardization, and

• NY State Rent Control.

To join a Forum, please register here. For any forum related questions, please contact Kathleen Olin.


Contact

Kathleen Olin
Managing Director, Industry Initiatives
202.448.0863
kolin@crefc.org
The information provided herein is general in nature and for educational purposes only. CRE Finance Council makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, validity, usefulness, or suitability of the information provided. The information should not be relied upon or interpreted as legal, financial, tax, accounting, investment, commercial or other advice, and CRE Finance Council disclaims all liability for any such reliance. © 2022 CRE Finance Council. All rights reserved.
2022 Update on CREFC's Issuers Forum
February 7, 2022
Meet the leadership team of CREFC's Issuers Forum and learn of the current issues impacting issuance.

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