# Mark Lowery Arkansas Treasurer of State during the brief interim period between Dennis Milligan's term end (Milligan's second term ended January 2023 due to term limits) and Larry Walther's August 2023 appointment. Lowery served as elected Treasurer of State from January 2023 until his death in August 2023. Walther was subsequently appointed by Governor Sanders to fill the vacancy. ## Documentary basis The Treasury R2 Sub-batch 2 Israel Maturities production produces the first wiki-documented Lowery primary source. The 4/12/2023 Letter of Instruction from the Arkansas Treasurer of State to Bank of New York Mellon Global Custody, requesting withdrawal of the 5/1/2023 maturing Israel Bond from the DTC Vault, is on Lowery letterhead: > MARK LOWERY > TREASURER OF STATE > 220 WOODLANE AVENUE > LITTLE ROCK, AR 72201 > > April 12, 2023 > > To: Bank of New York Mellon Global Custody > From: Celeste Gladden, Arkansas State Treasury, Custody Account [redacted] > > RE: LETTER OF INSTRUCTION > Please accept this letter of instruction regarding the physical bond held in the DTC Vault that is maturing May 1, 2023. We request that the Bond be withdrawn from the vault and delivered back to the Arkansas State Treasury on Friday, April 14, 2023. > > The security details are as follows: > CUSIP/ISIN: US46513JCJ88 > UNITS: $8,000,000 > MTY DATE: 05/01/2023 > > Israel Bond Maturity 05-01-2023_Redacted.pdf p.5, 4/12/2023 The letterhead address (220 Woodlane Avenue) is the same Treasurer's-office State Capitol building address subsequently used on Walther-era and Thurston-era Treasury correspondence. The Lowery-era address differs from the historic State Capitol Suite 220 address used by Milligan-era Sanson correspondence (12/31/2018-12/31/2020 Computershare statements show "STATE CAPITOL, SUITE 220, LITTLE ROCK AR 72201"; the Gladden-era Victory Building 1401 W Capitol Ste 275 address began in 2021-2022). Celeste Gladden as Investment Manager signed the substantive Letter of Instruction on Lowery's letterhead; Lowery is the named Treasurer on the institutional document but did not personally sign the operational request. ## Position in the Treasury Israel Bonds chronology Lowery's January-August 2023 tenure spans no documented Israel Bonds purchase (the prior purchase was Milligan-era October 2021; the next purchase was Walther-era November 2023). The 5/1/2023 $8M maturity (the May 2020 8th Series Jubilee Fix 3Y 1.57% position) is the only documented Treasury Israel Bonds transaction during Lowery's tenure. The maturity proceeds returned to the Treasury general account; there is no documented Lowery-era Israel Bonds reinvestment decision. ## Custodian transition during the Lowery interregnum The 4/12/2023 Letter of Instruction is also the first documented Treasury Israel Bonds correspondence with **Bank of New York Mellon Global Custody**. The prior custodian (per Milligan-era 2018-2021 transactions and the existing wiki documentation) was Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Custody and Agency Services. The 2022-2023 transition from BofA to BNY as Treasury custodian for Israel Bonds is therefore documented as occurring during or before the Lowery tenure; the precise transition date is not in this batch. ## What the wiki does NOT yet document about Lowery The substantive Lowery decisions on Israel Bonds, if any (whether to reinvest the 5/1/2023 $8M maturity proceeds; whether to authorize new purchases; whether the Walther-era November 2023 $10M purchase was pre-authorized under Lowery), are not documented in this batch. The wiki's documentary record on Lowery is limited to the 4/12/2023 letterhead presence and the absence of new Israel Bonds purchases during his approximately 8-month tenure. The Communications binders (R2 Sub-batch 3, not yet ingested) are the most likely location for any substantive Lowery-era Israel Bonds internal correspondence or briefing material. ## Cross-references [[treasury-foia-r2-9-23-25]] source page [[celeste-gladden]] Investment Manager who signed the 4/12/2023 Letter of Instruction on Lowery's letterhead [[dennis-milligan]] preceding Treasurer (Milligan's second term ended January 2023) [[larry-walther]] successor Treasurer (appointed August 2023 after Lowery's death) [[state-treasurer-israel-bonds-holdings]] [[state-treasurer-israel-bonds-operations]] holdings and operations concept pages where the Lowery-era custodian transition belongs ## Treasury R2 Sub-batch 3 (Communications binders): Berman engagement at SFOF The Sub-batch 3 alphabetized Communications binders document a personal Berman-Lowery interaction at an SFOF conference. Berman's 5/31/2023 3:40 PM email to Pulley + Munson: > I did have a conversation with Treasurer Lowery at the SFOF conference before he became ill, and he indicated verbally to me that he liked the paper, and intended to reinvest our bonds as they matured assuming we could get the State a solid return. > A-He binder, Berman to Pulley + Munson cc, 5/31/2023 3:40 PM This is the wiki's first documentation of Lowery-era Berman engagement. Lowery served as Arkansas Treasurer of State January-August 2023; the "SFOF conference before he became ill" reference points to an SFOF event Lowery attended in spring 2023 prior to the illness that preceded his death. Lowery's verbal indication that he "liked the paper, and intended to reinvest" places Lowery as the third Arkansas Treasurer with personal endorsement of the Israel Bonds program (after Milligan and before Walther). No Lowery-era Israel Bonds purchase occurred (the only Lowery-era Israel Bonds transaction was the 5/1/2023 $8M Milligan-era maturity rolling off, with the maturity-redemption Letter of Instruction signed on Lowery letterhead). Berman's documented Lowery engagement establishes program continuity through the Lowery interregnum: the personal endorsement at SFOF preceded the Walther-era November 2023 $10M purchase by approximately five months. The Lowery-era Berman engagement also contextualizes the May-July 2023 Berman-Pulley-Munson rate-sheet correspondence already documented in the Treasury R2 Sub-batch 3 record. Berman's 5/31/2023 ("hope the $8M that matured earlier in the year can be added to your portfolio at some time in the future") and 7/18/2023 ("hope the $8M that matured earlier in the year can be added to your portfolio at some time in the future") pitches to Pulley + Munson came after the SFOF Lowery engagement and built on Lowery's verbal indication. Lowery is also documented as on Autumn Sanson's 2/14/2023 SBOF distribution list (per the A-He binder), confirming his Treasurer-of-State role in February 2023 and his attendance/distribution at the State Board of Finance.