GlobeSt.com: One of the key elements of the new organization is the five forums. It seems likely that current and future members would want to belong to more than one.

Sargent: Yes, just as we have member institutions that are involved on the investing side as well as loan origination, so it makes sense for people to want to be involved in more than one forum. The forums are really a formalization of what our group has been adept at, which is spotting issues and trends, innovating in commercial real estate finance, helping to bring about changes that really improve the industry. For example, several years back we began what was then called the CMSA Investor Reporting Package. It is used for reporting the performance of loans in a given securitization. We'll continue to be innovative and cutting-edge for the betterment of the industry.

GlobeSt.com: One of the areas in which the old CMSA was most active was advocacy, particularly on matters in Washington. Is this part of the new organization's mandate?

Sargent: It is a critical part. We have had dozens of meetings over the past 12 to 18 months with Treasury and the Fed as well as legislators. Our senior vice president, Brendan Reilly, is head of the government relations group, and we're expanding that with a junior lobbyist as well as a policy person. I think everyone would acknowledge that Washington seems to be the new center of the universe, and we'll probably have some degree of regulation coming out of there for several years to come. So we want to be sure that we educate and inform as well as provide input from those who are involved in the markets.

GlobeSt.com: Does the council encourage members to become individually aware and active on the legislative and regulatory front?

Sargent: Absolutely. Our strong point has been member participation. That's why we formalized that through the creation of forums. That just creates an efficient framework where people can participate, dialogue and offer up suggestions. Then, as the need may be, we'll create a task force to zero in on a particular, narrow effort that we may have. Our goal is to advocate where we have consensus and educate where we do not.

GlobeSt.com: As the council expands its reach, how is it planning to grow the membership?

Sargent: The key is to get out the word on what we have done in the past. That's a good proxy for what to expect going forward. It's why we conduct after-work seminars, such as the one we held in New York on March 24 about pooling and servicing agreements, and why we have many educational resources on our website. We had a tremendous turnout for our January conference, which was held in Washington, so we had tremendous access to regulators. Sheila Bair, chairman of the FDIC, spoke there, and we had a number of legislators speak there as well.

We reach out through news releases and through the programs that we offer. People can look at them and hopefully realize that this is a group that is active in getting things done for the benefit of the industry.