Alexandria, VA – MSRB Chair Kym Arnone has received the Freda Johnson Award for Trailblazing Women in Public Finance from the Northeast Women in Public Finance. The award is given annually in recognition of the recipient’s contributions to public finance as well as her volunteerism and role as a mentor. Arnone is the first recipient working in the private sector to receive the award, which also went to public-sector recipient Lois Scott, the chief financial officer of Chicago.
Arnone, who is serving her third year on the MSRB Board of Directors, is Managing Director and Head of Municipal Securitization Initiatives at Barclays. As Chair of the MSRB, Arnone is leading the organization through multiple initiatives. Watch a video message here.
Arnone pioneered the structuring of $43 billion in tobacco securitization bonds for states that were part of a civil settlement major tobacco companies in 1998. She has led Barclays’ underwriting work for New York City for 20 years helping to create its Transitional Finance Authority personal income tax credits, and has led transactions of virtually every type and product for municipal entities throughout the Midwest.
In presenting the eponymous award, Freda Johnson said of Arnone, “I have never known a more consummate professional,” she said. “There is no one more dedicated, hard-working, energetic or innovative when it comes to public finance.” Kimberly Lyons and Vivian Altman, co-heads of the Northeast Women in Public Finance, said, “Along with Lois Scott, Kym Arnone epitomizes the contributions women have made to public finance and both women serve as role models to all the women in this industry.”
Prior to her role with Barclays, Arnone was a senior banker at Bear Stearns. Arnone is a trustee for the Citizens Budget Commission, and a board member of the Municipal Forum of New York. Arnone graduated magna cum laude from St. John’s University with a bachelor’s degree in finance.
Past winners of the Freda Johnson award are 2013 recipient Philadelphia Treasurer Nancy Winkler, Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier and Rhode Island State Treasurer Gina Raimondo. The award was created in honor of Freda Johnson, a Founding Board Member of New England Women in Public Finance whose trailblazing four-decade career in public finance helped inspire many women in the industry. Johnson began her career at The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation and its subsidiary, Moody’s Investors Service, and later served as president of Government Finance Associates, Inc.
Date: December 5, 2014
Contact: Jennifer A. Galloway, Chief Communications Officer
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