The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), an international trade body, picked the former head of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Richard Dorfman, to lead its new securitization-focused group, the SSG. SIFMA formed the SSG a few months ago, after parting ways with the American Securitization Forum. The SSG was created to fill the space left by the ASF departure. “I am excited by this opportunity and delighted to join SIFMA at such a crucial time for our industry,” said Dorfman. “Securitization is instrumental in the provision of consumer credit, economic activity and job creation, and it is critical that the market recover.” According to a release from SIFMA, the SSG will hold the primary focus of working with Washington DC regulators on creating and implementing securitization reforms, hopefully in ways that minimize damage to secondary market operations. “I look forward to working with our members on essential initiatives related to regulatory reform, the future of the GSEs, and to providing the input the SEC requested on its recent rule proposal related to asset-backed securities,” Dorfman added. Dorfman led the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta from June 2007.  Prior to that, he was head of the US agencies and mortgages business at investment bank ABN AMRO. He also worked in the mortgage division of Lehman Brothers as head of originations, US government and agency business. He also worked as an attorney with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC). Write to Jacob Gaffney. The author holds no relevant investments.