Smith Business Close-Up: Housing and the Economy

Air date: Thursday, May 16, 2013, 7:30 p.m.

The housing market is picking up steam, an indicator of an economic resurgence overall. What does this mean for buying and selling in Maryland? In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up with the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, Cliff Rossi talks about housing and the economy.

Rossi is an Executive-in-Residence and Tyser Teaching Fellow at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Rossi had nearly 25 years’ experience in banking and government, having held senior executive roles in risk management at several of the largest financial services companies.

His most recent position was Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer for Citigroup’s Consumer Lending Group where he was responsible for overseeing the risk of a $300+B global portfolio of mortgage, home equity, student loans and auto loans with 700 employees under his direction. While there he was intimately involved in Citi’s TARP and stress test activities. He also served as Chief Credit Officer at Washington Mutual (WaMu) and as Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer at Countrywide Bank. Previous to these assignments, he held senior positions at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and worked for a number of years at the Treasury Department and Office of Thrift Supervision working on key policy issues affecting depositories.