Panelists

Amanda Allexon is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s Financial Institutions Practice. In this role, she advises domestic and foreign banks, bank holding companies, other regulated financial institutions and investors on the full spectrum of transactional, governance, regulatory and supervisory matters, including complex high-profile mergers and acquisitions.  She routinely represents clients before the Federal Reserve, the OCC, the FDIC, and U.S. state banking regulators.  She also advises on private equity investments involving banks and bank holding companies, and Volcker Rule issues.

Prior to joining Simpson Thacher, Allexon served as Counsel at Wachtell Lipton, where she specialized in representing financial institutions in a broad range of regulatory matters.  In addition to her private practice experience, Allexon worked in the Legal Division of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors for nearly a decade, including serving as Senior Counsel.  Before joining the Legal Division, she served as Legislative Assistant to Representative James A. Leach, Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services.

Allexon received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. from the University of Iowa.

Michele Alt is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Klaros Group.  In this role, Alt advises banks and fintechs on regulatory issues critical to growth and sustainability, with a focus on aiding fintechs with their U.S. business plans and bank licensing strategies.  Previously, Alt spent 22 years in the Law Department of the OCC.  While at the OCC, she served as Assistant Director of the Legislative and Regulatory Activities section during and immediately after the 2008 financial crisis––heading up numerous interagency rulemakings arising out of the Dodd-Frank legislation––and as District Counsel in Chicago, Illinois.

After leaving the OCC, Alt spent nearly a decade at Promontory Financial Group, leading major bank licensing efforts and assisting numerous major banking organizations on a range of Dodd-Frank and Volcker Rule interpretive and implementation matters.  She began her career as a judicial clerk on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.  In addition to her work at Klaros Group, Alt also hosts a podcast called “Radically Clear,” where she discusses changes in banking regulation.

Alt received her J.D. from Wayne State University and her B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Jarryd Anderson is Co-Chair of Paul, Weiss’s Financial Services Group.  His practice focuses on advising U.S. and non-U.S. banking organizations, non-bank financial institutions, asset managers, and fintech companies on transactional, corporate, regulatory, supervisory, and enforcement matters.  His experience encompasses bank powers and activities; capital and liquidity requirements; Volcker Rule compliance; AML; other areas of bank regulation; and representation of clients before the federal banking agencies and Congress.

Anderson previously served as Vice President and Counsel for Wells Fargo, TD, and The Clearing House Association, and as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center.  He also worked in the Legal and Supervision, Regulation, and Credit departments of the Federal Reserve, and as a regulatory policy advisor in the Supervision and Regulation Division of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where he helped implement significant aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Anderson earned his J.D. from Rutgers Law School, his LLM from Georgetown University Law Center, his MBA from Columbia Business School, and his B.A. from La Salle University.

Neil Bloomfied serves as Co-Head of Moore & Van Allen’s Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Group.  In this role, Bloomfield represents clients responding to inquiries by Federal, State, and international authorities on matters ranging from market-wide inquiries like the Panama Papers and LIBOR to issues experienced by individual institutions, including whistleblower complaints and concerns related to consumer lending.

Bloomfield also assists clients in responding to a variety of regulatory requirements including consent order compliance, CCAR, and Recovery and Resolution Planning.  His work includes a focus on state laws and regulation affecting the financial services sector in the wake of changing presidential priorities and the Supreme Court’s recent abandonment of Chevron deference and new articulation of preemption.  Bloomfield serves as an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of Law and as an advisor for start-up fintech companies with RevTech Labs Foundation.

Bloomfield received his J.D. from Boston University School of Law and his B.A. from Wake Forest University.

Jess Cheng is a Partner in Wilson Sonsini’s Corporate Practice.  In this role, she represents fintech clients on sophisticated regulatory, transactional, and product development projects involving financial services.  Cheng advises clients on navigating complex and evolving regulatory frameworks governing payments, emerging technologies, and related bank-regulatory matters.  She regularly counsels fintech companies, digital marketplaces, neobanks, and innovative payment service providers on structuring sophisticated commercial and bank-partnership arrangements that minimize regulatory risk while advancing business objectives.

Prior to joining Wilson Sonsini, Cheng served as Senior Counsel at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where she spearheaded the drafting of modernized payment regulations and analysis of novel activities such as those related to crypto assets.  She also worked with congressional staff on stablecoin legislation and central bank digital currencies.  Cheng also served as Counsel for the International Monetary Fund, where she advised on the Fund’s fintech work agenda and was the lead expert in payments and digital assets.  Earlier in her career, she was Deputy General Counsel at Ripple, Counsel and Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and an Associate at Wachtell Lipton.

Cheng received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. from Yale University.

Rohit Chopra served as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2021 until February 2025.  During his tenure, the agency obtained nearly $10 billion in victim refunds and penalties from firms that violated the law.  Previously, he served as Commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission from 2018 to 2021, where he played a major role in reshaping the agency’s approach to antitrust and privacy law enforcement. Chopra currently serves as an adviser to state attorneys general on consumer protection, antitrust, and affordability.

Chopra holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Him Das is Senior Managing Director and Counsel at K2 Integrity’s Washington, D.C. office.  In this role, Das helps clients navigate geopolitical, legal, and compliance challenges, with a focus on the rapidly evolving economic security landscape.

Das previously served as the acting director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), where he oversaw the continued expansion and refinement of the U.S. anti-money laundering regime and represented the United States before the Egmont Group and with FIUs globally. He led the bureau’s efforts to reform the U.S. AML/CFT framework through implementation of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, Corporate Transparency Act, and Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group.  Das also provided direction on FinCEN’s enforcement efforts and supervisory engagement with the Federal Banking Agencies.  Before his time at FinCEN, Das served at the National Security Council and National Economic Council as the Senior Director for International Trade and Investment and as Deputy Legal Adviser.  He also served as acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Trade and Investment and Assistant General Counsel for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  He started his career at the State Department, where he worked as an attorney-adviser on economic sanctions, trade, and climate change negotiations.

Das received his J.D. and M.P.P from the University of California at Berkeley; his M.Sc. from the University of Colorado at Boulder; and his A.B. from the University of California at Berkeley.

Mayra De La Garza is the Global Head of Compliance at epay, a Euronet company operating in over 60 countries.  In this role, she leads compliance strategy across a diverse portfolio of regulated products, including payments, digital wallets, and fintech partnerships.  She spearheaded epay’s development and global launch of Skylight, an AI-powered AML and fraud detection platform.  De La Garza currently serves as Co-Chair of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (“ACAMS”) Kansas City Chapter.  She previously held leadership roles on Walmart’s compliance and financial services teams.

She received her MBA from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and her B.S. from the University of Phoenix.

Kendall Howell serves as Counsel in Davis Polk’s National Security and Financial Institutions Practice Groups.  In this role, Howell counsels banks, fintechs, and technology companies on regulatory, enforcement, and transactional matters, with a focus on AML/CFT compliance and AI governance.

Howell received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin.

Asad Kudiya serves as Associate General Counsel with oversight responsibility for the Banking Regulation and Policy Group of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Legal Division.  His portfolio has included, among other things, enhanced prudential standards, capital stress testing, digital assets, and emergency lending facilities.  Prior to joining the Federal Reserve in 2016, Kudiya served as an Attorney Advisor at the U.S. Treasury and as an Associate at the law firms Gibson Dunn and Paul, Weiss.

Kudiya holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.S. from the University of Utah.

Stephen Lybarger is the Senior Deputy Comptroller for Chartering, Organization and Structure at the OCC.  In this role, Lybarger oversees the agency’s licensing function.  He is responsible for managing the OCC’s licensing process for national banks, federal savings associations, and payment stablecoin issuers. He also manages proposals for growth and structure changes to support a safe and sound national banking system, and is responsible for coordinating with the Chief Counsel’s Office and Bank Supervision and Examination in connection with such proposals.  Lybarger serves on the OCC’s Executive Committee and reports to the Comptroller of the Currency.

Prior to this position, Lybarger served as Deputy Comptroller for Licensing.  And prior to that, he joined the OCC as a community bank examiner and earned his commission as a National Bank Examiner.

Lybarger received his B.S. from Colorado State University.

Jai Massari is cofounder and Chief Legal Officer of Lightspark, a company building enterprise payment services on Bitcoin.  She also serves as Of Counsel at Arktouros pllc, a boutique law firm focused on emerging technologies & digital assets.  In addition, Massari is an Operating Advisor of Bessemer Venture Partners; a Lecturer at Stanford Law School, where she teaches a course on Fintech Innovation; and a Fellow at the Berkeley Center for Business and Law.

Previously, Massari was a partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in its Financial Institutions Group and a leader of the firm’s fintech and cryptocurrency practice.  Her practice focused on advising global financial institutions, fintech firms, technology companies, and trade associations on complex and novel regulatory considerations arising from financial regulatory reform, digital assets and fintech payments.

Massari holds a J.D. from Duke University School of Law and a B.A. in Chemistry from Cornell University.

Carlin McCrory is an Associate at Troutman where she provides comprehensive regulatory compliance advice, helping clients achieve business goals through practical best practices strategies. She assists with launching and enhancing depository, bank–fintech, and other financial programs by identifying and addressing applicable federal and state requirements. McCrory advises on a wide range of payments issues, including money transmission, card network rules, and Nacha Rule compliance. She also manages vendor contract issues across the transaction life cycle and drafts and reviews internal compliance policies and procedures.

Her practice includes counseling on ESIGN compliance, payment authorizations, payment portal setup, and bank–fintech partnership agreements. McCrory has significant experience with the Electronic Fund Transfers Act (EFTA) and Regulation E, including consumer liability, disclosures, error resolution, overdraft, and NSF practices. She frequently advises financial institutions and money services businesses on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), anti-money laundering (AML), and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) obligations, including customer identification programs and suspicious activity reporting.

McCrory received her J.D. from William & Mary Law School, and her B.S. from Florida State University.

Ann McKeehan serves as Managing Director and Head of Citi’s Financial Services Regulatory Legal Group.  Her global group provides legal counsel and subject-matter expertise across the full regulatory lifecycle, including regulatory policy development, the interpretation and implementation of regulatory requirements and obligations, and matters involving regulatory supervision and enforcement.

McKeehan previously worked for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, where she served as the Assistant Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Large Institution Supervision Coordinating Committee’s Capital Program; as the Special Advisor to Governor Daniel Tarullo; and as a Senior Supervisory Financial Analyst.  Prior to this, McKeehan served as an Attorney-Advisor and Special Counsel at the SEC.  McKeehan also worked as an Associate at Arnold & Porter and as a Law Clerk on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

McKeehan received her J.D. from Emory University School of Law and her A.B. from Princeton University.

Hope Mehlman serves as Ally’s Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer and as the company’s Corporate Secretary.  In her role, Mehlman is responsible for all regulatory, governance, and legal matters.  She oversees the organization’s legal, compliance, corporate affairs, government relations, environmental sustainability, and corporate secretarial teams, as well as the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) program.

Before joining Ally, Mehlman was Discover Financial Services’ Chief Legal Officer, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.  Earlier, she served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Bank of the West, Corporate Secretary of BNP Paribas USA, and Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary, Chief Governance Officer, Deputy General Counsel, and Senior Compliance Officer of Regions Financial.  Prior to Regions, Mehlman was a Partner at Adams and Reese LLP, with a focus on various issues affecting financial institutions’ operations.

Mehlman received her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, her LLM in Taxation from New York University School of Law, and her B.A. from Cornell University.

Brandon Milhorn is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).  He was appointed by the CSBS Board of Directors in December 2023.  CSBS supports state regulators by advocating for responsible policy; engaging with federal regulatory counterparts and Congress; providing research on economic matters, industry trends, and best practices; conducting training and professional development; and developing transformative supervisory technology, such as the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry (NMLS).

Milhorn previously served as Deputy to the Vice-Chairman and Chairman, Chief of Staff, and Chief Operating Officer at the FDIC.  Before the FDIC, he served as the Vice President of Government Relations for Raytheon.  Prior to Raytheon, he held numerous public service positions, including staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and as an attorney at the CIA.  He began his career as a Clerk on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Milhorn received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.S. from East Tennessee State University.

Britt Mosman serves as a partner in and Co-Chair of Willkie’s Global Trade & Investment Practice Group.  In this role, she advises clients on a wide range of international transactional, compliance, and enforcement issues.  Her experience includes advising global financial institutions and multinational companies on BSA/AML, economic sanctions, and export control laws, as well as on Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) transaction reviews and other national security-related issues.  In addition, Mosman routinely advises crypto sector participants on compliance with BSA/AML and economic sanctions requirements.

Prior to joining Willkie, Mosman served as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of the Chief Counsel for the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.  In this role, she focused on economic sanctions and national security issues, including as a lead attorney on the Iran, Ukraine/Russia, Cuba, Syria, Election Interference, and Cyber-related sanctions programs.

Mosman received her J.D. from Boston College Law School and her B.A. from Brigham Young University.

Ed O’Keefe serves as the Co-Head of Moore & Van Allen’s Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Group.  His practice includes advising on all aspects of regulatory compliance, including BSA/AML, anti-bribery/anti-corruption, and responding to regulatory inquiries.  O’Keefe also advises General Counsels and their teams on law department management and governance, including engagement with regulators and control functions.

Prior to joining Moore & Van Allen, O’Keefe served as Global General Counsel for Bank of America.  During his tenure at Bank of America, O’Keefe also headed or served as a senior executive with the bank’s compliance, technology, human resources, and operations functions.  O’Keefe previously served as Chair of The Clearing House Association, during which time he supported and approved the creation of the Real Time Payments system.

O’Keefe received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and his B.S. from the University of Rhode Island College of Business Administration.

Ursula Pfeil serves as the Deputy General Counsel of Regulatory Affairs and Regulatory Policy at PNC.  In this role, Pfeil partners with PNC’s businesses to help them achieve strategic priorities, manage regulatory change, and comply with laws and regulations governing PNC’s activities in the United States and abroad.  Pfeil also supports PNC’s executives in developing and executing regulatory policy priorities at the federal and state level.

Prior to joining PNC Pfeil served as an Attorney Advisor and, later, as Counsel in the Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division for the OCC.  She also worked as Counsel in the Financial Institutions Practice Group at WilmerHale.

Pfeil received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law and her B.A. from Barnard College of Columbia University.

Katie Suskind is Head of Policy at Adyen, a fintech platform that provides end-to-end payment processing, risk management, and financial products.  In this role, Suskin leads the company’s global work on payments, banking, and emerging technology policy.

Before joining Adyen, she worked on policy at Ribbit Capital, assisted with policy and GTM strategy at Plaid, and served on two U.S. Senate committees.

Suskind received her MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Government from the University of Virginia.

Meg Tahyar is head of Davis Polk’s Financial Institutions practice and a member of the firm’s Fintech team.  In this role, she provides strategic bank and financial regulatory advice to clients including many of the largest U.S. and non-U.S. financial institutions, regional banks, fintechs, cryptocurrency exchanges, and other digital assets companies.  In 2023, she led the teams representing the Signature and Silicon Valley bridge banks and advised J.P. Morgan on its acquisition of First Republic.  Tahyar also advises on corporate governance, consent order remediation, bank chartering, payment systems, fintech partnerships, bank powers and activities, cryptocurrencies, digital assets, securities disclosure, capital and liquidity, and the Federal Reserve’s liquidity programs.

Tahyar is a member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee.  Additionally, she co-authored the leading textbook Financial Regulation: Law and Policy, as well as FinTech Law: The Case Studies.

Tahyar received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her A.B. from the University of Michigan.

Phill Wertz is an Associate General Counsel in the Bank Regulatory Group of the Legal Department of Bank of America Corporation and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. In this role, he provides enterprise-wide legal advice and subject matter expertise on U.S. bank regulatory matters.

Prior to joining Bank of America in 2001, Wertz was an associate with the law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft where he worked on commercial and capital markets financing transactions.

Wertz graduated from Duke University School of Law with a joint J.D./LLM degree in International and Comparative Law.  He received his B.A. from the UNC.

Beth Whitaker is a Partner at Hunton, where she focuses on corporate, transactional, and regulatory representation of commercial banks, holding companies, credit unions, and other financial institutions.  Whitaker advises clients on structuring and raising capital, securities law compliance and reporting obligations, corporate governance and shareholder matters, as well as strategic and succession planning.

Whitaker received her J.D. from Charleston School of Law and her B.A. from Elon University.