Seth Waugh of Deutsche Bank is honored by the YMCA of greater New York.

Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank Americas, was honored by the YMCA of Greater New York (not to be confused with the 92nd St. “Y”) at Cipriani Wall Street on June 6th. Consuelo Mack, former CNBC anchor, emceed the evening which featured many American Idol aspirants crooning love songs. You have to applaud these amateurs for their desire to please and to feed their sense of hope. But thank god for the waiters who incessantly brought drink orders from the bar.

During the cocktail reception, Seth told me he was very optimistic about investment banking because the pace of innovation has brought a long list of new revenue sources. He believes everything will be tradable, and that that is the future. Why not? Loans are now liquid commodities thanks to syndications and securitizations, and even wives are tradable in reality shows. Who knows? Maybe we will soon be able to trade our identity and our bank accounts. I, for one, wouldn’t mind swapping my 401K for his. If there’s profit to be made, the investment bankers will find a way to make it happen.

He also doesn’t think the “rules” versus “principles” debate over financial regulation is relevant since the Fed and now the SEC under Chris Cox has really moved closer to the U.K. model of “principles” regulation. This must mean that the banks really are special. I wonder if the CEOs of other industries have taken note. Such developments would certainly make work for lawyers more interesting.

Besides being blessed with good looks and smarts, Seth also means well. In his acceptance speech, he admitted that he was blessed with “getting on the right bus”—meaning he went to all the right institutions since birth. To show his gratitude, he is trying to get others who take refuge at the YMCA to also “get on the right bus.” Good luck. Perhaps he can start by giving them internships at Deutsche Bank.

Ann Lee

6/7/07