The Board of Governors of the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association (CMSA) has transformed the association into a new organization that will serve all constituencies within commercial real estate finance. CMSA is now the CRE Finance Council.
The Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Finance Council's creation is reflective of the growing changes in global commercial real estate finance as well as the importance its participants play in furthering the mission of this market, according to a release from the new organization released this morning.
The CRE Finance Council initially will include five forums – CRE market participants that drive the global commercial real estate industry: investment-grade bondholders, multifamily lenders, portfolio lenders, servicers, and securities and loan investors.
Each of these forums will interact and address issues critical to its business sector, working to achieve solutions serving a common purpose.
With these specialized forums collaborating, the CRE Finance Council’s objectives will be to represent all forum participants, manage disparate and converging views, advocate the consensus of positions to policy and lawmakers on behalf of the industry, educate members, continue developing best practices, and work toward the betterment of the entire commercial real estate finance market.
CRE Finance Council, which was created by and for its members, will help make a vibrant, transparent and accessible commercial finance market, which is an integral part of the commercial real estate industry that serves a central role within the U.S. and global economies, the release said.
“Our intention always is to be responsive to our members and to the market’s changing course, and the CRE Finance Council is a natural and logical extension of this new course,” said Dottie Cunningham, CEO, CRE Finance Council.
“We will always attempt to foster a consensus on issues that are important to our various stakeholders,” said Patrick C. Sargent, president, CRE Finance Council and partner, Andrews Kurth. “Where the CRE Finance Council finds consensus, it will advocate; where it finds differences of opinion, the Council will educate.”
“Our members want an adaptive, expanded organization, forged by the successes of its predecessor, but one that serves all constituencies for our changing industry. And we are very excited to address the industry’s challenges and to advance our members’ objectives,” Sargent said.
