The Clearing House Appoints Paul Saltzman as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Head of The Clearing House Association

Industry Veteran Will Lead Advocacy Efforts for Nation's Large Bank Forum

News provided by

Feb 02, 2010, 07:45 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Clearing House, the nation's premier bank-owned private sector payments provider and industry forum, today announced that Paul Saltzman has been named Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Head of The Clearing House Association effective immediately. Mr. Saltzman will report to James D. Aramanda, CEO of The Clearing House. He succeeds Norm Nelson who retired after more than 20 years of service.

In his new role, Mr. Saltzman will have the dual responsibility of overseeing the legal, compliance, and litigation functions for the organization's payments business and steering the strategic agenda for The Clearing House Association ("Association"), a not-for profit, membership-based business league. The Association represents the interests of The Clearing House ownership on a diverse range of legal, tax, finance and regulatory matters through position papers, comment letters and amicus curiae briefs.

"In today's complex business environment, The Clearing House Association is increasingly emerging as the collective voice of large banks with regulators, legislators and the judiciary," said James D. Aramanda, Chief Executive Officer of The Clearing House. "Paul's deep credentials, established relationships and strong reputation for proactive leadership will be instrumental in elevating the Association's influence with key stakeholders and advancing our advocacy initiatives."

Mr. Saltzman brings 25 years of experience in financial services, emerging technology and industry associations. For nearly a decade, Mr. Saltzman served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for the Bond Market Association (now SIFMA), where he established and managed the regulatory and legal agenda for the fixed income industry. Under his direction, The Bond Market Association significantly increased its output, visibility and credibility with legislators and regulators including The Federal Reserve Board, SEC, The Treasury Department and European Central Bank.

Prior to joining The Clearing House, Mr. Saltzman was the Managing Director and General Counsel of Ellington Management Group, a leading alternative investment manager specializing in mortgage-backed securities and Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Espeed, Inc., a publicly traded electronic marketplace. Mr. Saltzman was also formerly the in-house counsel for Greenwich Capital Markets and Kidder Peabody and Co. as well as an attorney for New York and Washington, D.C. firms.

A graduate of Clark University, Mr. Saltzman received his Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law. He is a member of the New York City, New York State and American Bar Associations and serves on the board of directors for Pro Bono Partnership, a leading provider of free legal services and resources to nonprofit community-based organizations throughout the tri-state area. Previously, Mr. Saltzman has served on the boards of the Duke University Global Capital Markets Center, the Institute for Financial Markets and the SEC Historical Society.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Saltzman said, "The Clearing House has a deep and rich heritage of convening the banking industry for collaborative action. This is a unique opportunity to leverage the full scope of my expertise to build upon The Association's historic momentum in shaping the debate on issues of significance to the sector."

About The Clearing House

Established in 1853 and owned by 20 of the largest banks in the United States, The Clearing House is a leading private sector provider of payments settlement and clearing services to financial institutions worldwide. The Clearing House processes nearly 66 million ACH, wire transfer, and image exchange transactions daily with an average US dollar value of nearly two trillion.

The Clearing House Association, a not-for-profit arm of The Clearing House, has a long, distinguished history of serving as a forum for the collaborative development of legal, regulatory and industry solutions. For more information, please visit www.theclearinghouse.org.

SOURCE The Clearing House