Deals and People July 9, 2003

Fisher Departs #2 Treasury Post

July 9, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Peter Fisher, the US Treasury Department's undersecretary for domestic finance who helped manage the administration's position on phasing out the 30-Year Treasury bond, is stepping down from the post.
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Fisher’s resignation is effect ive October 10, Treasury said in an announcement, according to a Reuters news report. .

“I have come to the conclusion that it will be best for my family to return to New Jersey and, therefore, I write to submit my resignation as Under Secretary of the Treasury,” Fisher wrote in a resignation letter to President Bush and released by Treasury.

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On Wall Street, prices for 30-year U.S. Treasury bond prices dipped briefly on word of Fisher’s resignation, as dealers speculated whether it might help clear the way for reintroducing the long bond.

Separately, the White House revealed that Bush intends to nominate Kenneth Leet, a managing director with Goldman Sachs, as Fisher’s replacement.

In other Treasury personnel developments:

  • The White House also said Bush will nominate Susan Schwab, a University of Maryland official, as deputy Treasury secretary, a post which has been vacant since late February.
  • Treasury Secretary John Snow announced that he had named Charles Schott to be deputy assistant secretary for trade and investment, and Courtney Clelan to be deputy assistant secretary of legislative affairs.

Debate continues to rage both on Capital Hill and in the retirement services industry about finding a suitable replacement for the 30-year Treasury to use in pension funding calculations (See Experts Say Administration Pension Proposal A Step in the Right Direction, But…).

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