The Might of the Pen: A Lookback on 2020 SFA Written Advocacy

2.23.21

The Might of the Pen: A Lookback on 2020 SFA Written Advocacy

Written by:

  • Jen Earyes, Head of Policy, Structured Finance Association 

Policymakers turn to the Structured Finance Association to gain market insight and hear perspectives from subject matter experts. 2020 brought new challenges cultivated by the unique circumstances resulting from the novel COVID-19 pandemic.

The rapid onset of global events conflated into an environment presenting challenges to financial markets in remarkable volumes at an extraordinary pace. While developing solutions to restore vibrancy in markets and responsibly stabilize access to credit, policymakers looked to practitioners within SFA’s membership.

The rapidly changing environment of 2020 called for an approach that allowed more public, on-record advocacy. SFA more frequently utilized written advocacy – which includes comment letters, amicus briefs, presentations, and e-mail correspondence – as a crucial component of its overall advocacy on a variety of issues within the structured finance markets. Written advocacy provides an opportunity to bring awareness to market challenges and collaborate in the public forum, allowing market stakeholders to share perspectives critical to the health of our markets. Sometimes, these efforts involve SFA collaborating with other organizations in advocacy on issues where views are shared.

In addition to the hundreds of meetings and thousands of emails across stakeholders, SFA engaged in dozens of written advocacy efforts in 2020 with demonstrable policy results.

Take a look at some of the 2020 SFA written advocacy efforts: