Overview
(July 20, 2015, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce a major expansion of its Financial Services practice with the arrival of Micah Green and his six-member team. Mr. Green, who has joined the firm as a partner in the Washington office, will lead the firm’s Financial Services practice and co-chair the Government Affairs & Public Policy Group.
Also joining Steptoe as partners are Carolyn Walsh and Matthew Kulkin, and as senior policy advisors Michael Dunn, a former commissioner and acting chair of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Richard Shilts, a former director of the CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight. Two associates, Mara Giorgio and Grace Kim, round out the group, which is also bolstered by the recent arrival of Steptoe partner Dan Mullen, a former investigations branch chief within the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s enforcement office. Together, the newly expanded Financial Services practice will bring together professionals in the legislative, regulatory, compliance, enforcement and financial litigation practices.
“Micah is the ideal person to spearhead our Financial Services practice, as he brings extensive experience leading and advising associations and other clients in the financial services arena on policy and regulatory matters,” said Steptoe Chair Phil West. “His group will provide the full set of legal services that our financial services clients need – legislative and regulatory advocacy, policy-related litigation and agency enforcement and related litigation. This will provide clients a best-in-class cross-discipline approach in addressing issues in the ever-changing financial regulatory environment.”
Mr. Green brings a deep understanding of the policy and political environment with decades of experience representing the players and products in the financial markets throughout the United States and globally. For the past three decades, he has worked directly with key policy makers who impact the regulation of the financial services sectors, financial products and capital markets, as well as those who draft tax laws and regulations. Mr. Green has represented The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the Wholesale Markets Brokers Association Americas (WMBAA), and several other clients throughout the Dodd-Frank legislative process, continuing into the ongoing rule-making process at the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other financial regulators on a wide range of issues, with a particular emphasis on capital markets, financial products and the new regulatory framework governing the swaps market under Dodd-Frank.
Mr. Green previously served as president and co-CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which was formed by a merger between The Bond Market Association and the Securities Industry Association. At the time of the merger, Mr. Green had served as president and CEO of The Bond Market Association for seven years, leading the full-service trade association in its representation of the largest financial markets in the world, the estimated $48 trillion debt markets, and a diverse mix of more than 460 securities firms and banks, multi-product firms, and companies with special market and regional niches. As CEO, he oversaw the association’s expansion across the markets and around the globe, establishing offices in Europe and Asia.
Since entering private practice in 2007, Mr. Green has assisted in the creation of several specialized and focused trade associations representing interdealer brokers, institutional investors, mortgage investors and foreign exchange market professionals.
Before joining The Bond Market Association in 1987, Mr. Green was tax legislative counsel at MCI Communications, where he was responsible for implementing the federal, state, and local tax legislative effort of the telecommunications company and leading MCI’s lobbying efforts during major tax reform. Before that, he lobbied Congress for the National Association of Realtors. Earlier in his career, Mr. Green worked for seven years on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Green commented: “This is an exciting new chapter in my career. I have long admired Steptoe and look forward to joining the firm’s government affairs practice and expanding the financial services practice to better serve clients as they find themselves facing a growing and evolving set of Dodd-Frank implementation issues in the US and globally. As clients’ needs expand beyond legislative and regulatory policy advocacy and move to compliance and enforcement, Steptoe’s strong government enforcement and investigations and white-collar practices will not only enhance the talent of my team, but, more importantly, ensure that we have a full range of coordinated services to offer clients.”
Carolyn Walsh advises clients on a wide range of capital markets legislative and rulemaking developments. She has practiced actively before Congress, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Treasury Department, the CFTC, the SEC, and other regulatory agencies that promulgate and implement financial reform regulation. Prior to returning to private practice, Ms. Walsh served at the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board where she worked on several initiatives, including pay to play rules, municipal disclosure and trade reporting. She also spent several years in senior leadership positions at the American Bankers Association Securities Association.
Matthew Kulkin advises financial market participants on legislative and regulatory issues. He represents clients before the CFTC, SEC, the Federal Reserve, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Treasury Department, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and other regulatory agencies, as well as the relevant Congressional committees of jurisdiction. He is co-chair of the DC Bar’s Derivatives, Securitization & Project Finance Committee. Mr. Kulkin has written extensively and spoken at national conferences related to the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Michael Dunn was a CFTC commissioner for seven years and served as acting chairman in 2010. He brings nearly four decades of experience working with federal regulators, both in the rule-making process and in compliance and oversight. He advises clients on complex regulatory issues, with a focus on the agriculture, energy, and financial services industries. Mr. Dunn has held seven presidentially appointed positions, including Undersecretary of the Department of Agriculture, involving oversight of federal regulation and policy.
Richard Shilts is a four-decade veteran of the CFTC, who served nine years as the director of the Division of Market Oversight. In that position, Mr. Shilts played a leading role in the extensive rule-writing emanating from Title VII of Dodd-Frank, which established an entirely new regulatory framework governing the swaps, futures, and commodities markets. He was also responsible for the CFTC’s oversight of derivatives exchanges and surveillance of trading activity for commodity futures and swap markets in the United States.
Steptoe’s Financial Services practice includes scores of lawyers practicing in all of the firm’s offices, and has seen several recent additions, including partner Dan Mullen, whose arrival was announced on July 8. Mr. Mullen has an enforcement practice that focuses on defending clients who are under investigation by the FERC and the CFTC. From 2008-2013, Mr. Mullen served as an investigations branch chief within FERC’s enforcement office, where he helped develop FERC’s enforcement regime and oversaw and conducted investigations and litigation against companies participating in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets.
About Steptoe
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm widely recognized for vigorous advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, successful representation of clients before governmental agencies, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in offices in Beijing, Brussels, Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Phoenix and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
