[author: Stewart McQueen]

Next week, hundreds of industry participants will make their way to our Nation’s capital for CREFC’s Annual Conference.   

The Conference promises to provide a forum to explore the effect of increasing financial instability in the Eurozone as well as the opportunity to develop important industry initiatives.  CREFC’s PSA Task Force will kick things off on Monday morning with a discussion of the PSA simplification project (a project designed to standardize and simplify the servicing mechanics in pooling and servicing agreements).  Based on feedback from issuers during January’s Conference, the focus of the Task Force has shifted from developing a form Article III to creating proposed guidelines and language intended to work with issuers’ existing form documentation.  Later in the day, the Issuer’s forum will discuss a number of topics impacting CMBS issuance, including market outlook, market risks and regulatory changes.  The Conference’s keynote address will come from Pulitzer Prize-winning political columnist George F. Will, who will be sure to offer a unique viewpoint of the election-year political landscape.

On Monday evening, Conference Co-Chair Rick Jones and the balance of the Dechert contingent will host clients and colleagues for dinner at the top of the Hay Adams.  We look forward to the opportunity to catch up with our friends.  Stewart McQueen and Matt Ginsburg will be providing daily updates next week from the conference.