Exclusive Commitment to the Public Sector:
No Research Performed for Developers/Builders
Empire Economics provides consulting services exclusively for public entities, and so it does NOT perform consulting services for private sector developers/builders.
By comparison, most real estate consulting firms provide services to private sector developers/builders, and, as such, advocate their often overly optimistic positions on the pricing and absorption of their projects/products.
So, Empire Economics, by providing consulting services exclusively to the public sector, provides public entities with a strong comfort level that they are receiving independent advice from an advocate that represents them.
For example, if a research firm for a Planned Community with a Community Facilities District were to provide consulting services to BOTH the public entity as well as the developer/builder, whether directly or indirectly, then a potential conflict of interest could be created, given the different/conflicting objectives of the public entity versus the developer/builder.
As a result of such conflicts, major legislative and regulatory measures have been enacted to recognize when such conflicts may occur and provide guidelines for avoiding them.
The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against Wall Street firms that have utilized their research analysts to promote companies that they conduct business with, citing this as a potential conflict of interest because they sell the same stocks/bonds to their investors. The SEC has recently bolstered its efforts to enforce its regulations with respect to such conflicts, including those applying to municipal issuers.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) in July 2010 in part to implement regulatory changes to better protect public entities and bondholders. Within the context of defining the rules of municipal professionals, Empire Economics regards itself as being an independent professional that provides consulting services exclusively to public entities.
Furthermore, Empire Economics includes within each study a Certification of Independence:
This Certificate states that Empire Economics performs consulting services exclusively for public entities in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest that could occur if it also provided consulting services for developers/builders.
By comparison, most real estate consulting firms provide services to private sector developers/builders, and, as such, advocate their often overly optimistic positions on the pricing and absorption of their projects/products.
So, Empire Economics, by providing consulting services exclusively to the public sector, provides public entities with a strong comfort level that they are receiving independent advice from an advocate that represents them.
For example, if a research firm for a Planned Community with a Community Facilities District were to provide consulting services to BOTH the public entity as well as the developer/builder, whether directly or indirectly, then a potential conflict of interest could be created, given the different/conflicting objectives of the public entity versus the developer/builder.
As a result of such conflicts, major legislative and regulatory measures have been enacted to recognize when such conflicts may occur and provide guidelines for avoiding them.
The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken action against Wall Street firms that have utilized their research analysts to promote companies that they conduct business with, citing this as a potential conflict of interest because they sell the same stocks/bonds to their investors. The SEC has recently bolstered its efforts to enforce its regulations with respect to such conflicts, including those applying to municipal issuers.
Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) in July 2010 in part to implement regulatory changes to better protect public entities and bondholders. Within the context of defining the rules of municipal professionals, Empire Economics regards itself as being an independent professional that provides consulting services exclusively to public entities.
Furthermore, Empire Economics includes within each study a Certification of Independence:
This Certificate states that Empire Economics performs consulting services exclusively for public entities in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest that could occur if it also provided consulting services for developers/builders.