Opening Remarks by OFR Acting Director James Martin at the 2025 Rising Scholars Conference

Good morning, and welcome to the 2025 Rising Scholars Conference: The Future of Financial Stability.

It’s a pleasure to have you here at the Office of Financial Research as we gather to explore some of the most important and complex challenges facing the financial system today.

To set the stage, let me begin with a brief historical perspective.

The OFR and the Financial Stability Oversight Council were established in 2010 in the wake of the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis of 2007 through 2009 exposed deep-rooted vulnerabilities that had been building in the financial system—vulnerabilities that were largely overlooked due to fragmented data and limited visibility into how risks were interconnected.

The Dodd-Frank Act created the OFR to promote financial stability through improved data, independent research, and risk analysis. Our mission is to illuminate the less visible parts of the financial system.

One milestone in that mission came in May 2024, when the OFR finalized a rule establishing an ongoing data collection for non-centrally cleared bilateral transactions in the U.S. repurchase agreement, or repo, market. This effort closes the last major gap in repo market data, enhancing transparency in a market that plays a central role in short-term funding and liquidity.

A major contributor to the 2007–09 financial crisis was what became known as “a run on repo.” As our understanding of that episode has evolved, so has the recognition of the need for better data. The OFR’s new rule sheds light on transactions that, until now, have remained largely opaque. Together with our earlier rule on centrally cleared repo, this initiative offers regulators and researchers a fuller picture of market dynamics and vulnerabilities.

Still, the work of financial stability is never finished. While past crises recede from memory, new stress points continue to emerge. In recent years, we’ve seen unexpected banking turmoil, sharp swings in interest rate expectations, and renewed questions about the resilience of commercial real estate. These issues are not entirely new—but they are taking shape in a rapidly changing environment.

That brings us to the heart of today’s event. The Rising Scholars Conference reflects our commitment to fostering new voices in financial research. By providing a platform for early-career researchers, we aim to encourage fresh perspectives on the evolving challenges to financial stability.

This year, we received over 70 submissions and selected seven papers for presentation. These papers address timely and consequential topics, including wholesale funding markets, private funds, fintech innovations, interest rate risk, and broader financial system exposures.

I want to thank everyone who helped make this conference possible, especially our co-host, the Review of Corporate Finance Studies. Your partnership strengthens our shared mission to advance financial stability through research and dialogue.

As we begin today’s discussions, I encourage you to engage thoughtfully, challenge assumptions, and contribute to the ongoing conversation about the future of the financial system.

Thank you again for joining us. Let’s begin a day of thoughtful exploration and collaborative learning.