The Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA) has appointed Bram Smith as executive director of the organization, it announced today.
Smith, a 30-year loan market veteran, has served as interim executive director since September, 2008. Prior to joining the organization, he managed the loan capital markets and sales group at Bear Stearns. He previously set up and managed the global loan business at Morgan Stanley, starting with the firm in 1996 after an 18-year career at Bankers Trust, where his responsibilities included managing loan syndications, sales and trading.
Smith assumed his role at the LSTA just as Lehman Brothers was heading into bankruptcy and has remained in his post as the market has staged a remarkable recovery, the organization noted in today’s release.
Under Smith’s leadership, the LSTA has focused on the goals spelled out in its strategic plan adopted last year, the release noted. This includes working to shorten settlement times by updating its distressed documentation and establishing a shift date determination system, which will replace a cumbersome and time-consuming model that has often led to disputes.
