The newly formed Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association today named Micah Green, former president and CEO of the Bond Market Association, and Marc Lackritz, former president of the Securities Industry Association, as permanent co-CEOs of SIFMA.

SIFMA was created by a merger between the SIA and the BMA

The news was announced from the stage at the SIFMA launch meeting in Boca Raton. Lackritz served as president of the Securities Industry Association since December 1992, and held the position of executive vice president and head of the Washington office since April 1990.

Green previously served as president and CEO of The Bond Market Association, a role he assumed on May 1, 2001.

Prior to joining SIA, Lackritz was executive vice president and head of the Washington office of the Public Securities Association, which later became the Bond Market Association.

James Gorman, SIFMA co-Chairman said, “Marc and Micah have shown throughout the merger that they are nimble and effective in working together as leaders, and we think their respective backgrounds will provide SIFMA the powerful voice the industry needs.”

Various industry executives today were nominated as directors of the board of the new association.

Also today, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers received Diversity Leadership Awards from SIFMA.

Edith Cooper, managing director at Goldman Sachs, accepted the award on behalf of the firm. Accepting the award for Lehman Brothers was Tom Russo, vice chairman and chief legal officer.

“Perhaps the most important ingredient in a business’s success is its ability to adapt to a changing environment,” said Micah Green, SIFMA co-CEO. “Today, as the markets we serve grow more diverse, it is imperative that our industry recruit and network among a wider cross-section of tomorrow’s leaders. For both their foresight and their substantial efforts on this important front, we honor Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.”

Goldman was recognized for a program known as ‘ascend’, which is the firm’s brand name for a series of events targeted at key women clients who hold senior leadership positions in their organizations. ”This global initiative provides a platform for Goldman Sachs to facilitate relationship building among influential women, who are clients or prospective clients, from corporate, government, philanthropic, global and local communities,” it noted. ”Rather than primarily focusing on women’s issues, the program is designed to address practical business needs by delivering relevant, business-driven content offered by top experts in fields, including global affairs, politics, and financial markets.”

Lehman Brothers’ Encore Program is a pioneering recruiting tool, which was developed to reach an untapped labor pool of talented individuals consisting mostly, but not exclusively, of women who have taken some extended time away from the workforce. To help integrate them back into the workforce, the program provides: a half-day career seminar and luncheon, in-depth screening and career counseling sessions with the firm’s diversity lateral recruiters, monitoring of job requisitions to make viable matches to individuals in the Encore database, introductions to hiring managers, and consultation on flexible work options with DLR and the firm’s retention manager.