Panelists

Samantha Berg is the Co-CEO of NextStreet, a mission-based small business solutions firm, in New York City. Before starting at NextStreet, Berg founded FITMARK, a consulting firm for data and fintech startup companies. Prior to this, she worked as an Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Amalgamated Bank. She also served as the Chief of Staff for the Commercial Bank and a Senior Vice President, Small Business Bank Marketing at Capital One. Berg has also worked American Express and Citi, respectively driving small business bank partnerships and overseeing bank deposit products. For more than ten years, she was at Chase Bank in several departments, including Small Business Banking, Technology, and Consumer Financial Services.

David Bloom is the Executive Vice President and Deputy General Counsel – Commercial, Corporate & Institutional at Truist leading a team of lawyers and paralegals providing legal support for Truist’s Commercial Banking, Commercial Real Estate and Investment Banking businesses. Prior to Truist, Bloom was the Head of Legal Corporate Investment Banking and Markets (CIBM) for HSBC, leading the CIBM legal function in London. Before HSBC, Bloom was a Senior Attorney with American Express Bank providing legal support for the Global Treasury Department. He also worked for Arnold & Porter (previously Kaye Scholer) as a Corporate Finance Associate.

Bloom holds a BA in International Affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder, an MA in Finance & Banking from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a JD from American University Washington College of Law.

Josias Dewey is a partner at Holland & Knight and a previous leader of the firm’s Real Estate Practice group. Dewey works as a financial services and real estate attorney, representing financial institutions, life insurance companies, and investments funds in financial related matters. Dewey is also considered a leading expert on software development, blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) and has co-authored “The Blockchain: A Guide for Legal and Business Professionals.” In addition, he has worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law and frequently teaches Real Estate Transactions.

Dewey graduated with a BA from the University of Florida and a JD from the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law.

David Freeman is a partner at Arnold & Porter and currently serves as the leader of its Financial Services practice group. In his role, Freeman represents financial institutions, investment managers and other key stakeholders on a variety on banking and securities related matters. Specifically, he assists banks, broker-dealers, and investment firms on complying with applicable state and federal financial law. He also serves on the Board of Advisors for UNC School of Law’s Center for Banking & Finance.

Freeman received his BA, MBA, and JD from the University of Virginia.

Andrew Gerlach is a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City. He currently serves as the co-Managing Partner of the General Practice Group and the co-head of the North America insurance practice. As a partner in Financial Services and Merger & Acquisitions, Gerlach assists his clients with a variety of transactions involving financial institutions, including divestitures securities offerings, and state and federal regulatory compliance. His areas of specialty include corporate takeover defense, corporate governance strategy, and mergers and acquisitions.

He holds a BA from George Mason University and a JD from Boston University School of Law.

Dr. Eric Ghysels serves as the Edward Bernstein Distinguished Professor of Economics and Professor of Finance at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He also is a finance professor at the university’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Ghysels specializes in time series econometrics and empirical financing. His recent research involves regression models, artificial intelligence, Mixed Data sampling, and FinTech. A leading expert in his field of study, he has published several works and has also served as co-editor for the Journal of Business and Economic Statistics and as an editor the Journal of Financial Econometrics. He also was the inaugural co-president and fellow of the Society for Financial Econometrics (SoFiE).  In addition, Ghysels has previously been recognized as a resident scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and also as a fellow at the European Central Bank and the American Statistical Association.

Ghysels earned his BA from the University of Brussels and his MA and PhD from Northwestern University.

Michelle Gluck Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. She is a member of the senior management and discount committees. Gluck serves as the Bank’s Chief Risk Officer and oversees the Bank’s Corporate Secretary’s office, Data Office and the Legal, Risk and Compliance, and Agency Services departments. Prior to joining the Fed, Gluck was executive vice president and chief legal officer at LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. She started her career in Richmond, Virginia, with Hunton & Williams, followed by experience as vice president and general counsel at Best Products, and vice president and associate general counsel at the Sports Authority and Kmart. Gluck currently serves as a trustee and audit committee chair of the VCU School of Business Foundation, and is a member of the Virginia and Michigan State Bars and the American Bar Association.

Ms. Gluck earned her BA from the University of Michigan and JD from the University of Michigan Law School.

Keith Goodwin is Assistant General Counsel with the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. His specialties include banking supervision and regulation, regulatory policy, credit risk management, and the orderly resolution of banks.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University, a master’s degree in public policy from Duke University, and both a master’s degree in English and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lewis Goodwin currently serves as CEO, President and Board member of Square Financial Services (SFS), a fully owned subsidiary of Block, Inc. (formerly Square). SFS is a Utah Industrial Loan Corp (ILC) approved by the FDIC and Utah in March 2020. One of only two ILC’s approved since 2008. Square/Block is committed to “Economic Empowerment” and expanding financial access to small businesses and consumers.  SFS provides small business loans and savings accounts nationwide.

Prior to Square, Goodwin served as CEO, President and Board member of Green Dot Bank and held senior roles at DaimlerChrysler Bank (in formation), Toyota Savings Bank, Medallion Bank, WebBank, Providian Bank and US Bank.  Goodwin has been a part of 7 bank applications including both change of control and de novo with the FRB, FDIC, Utah and Nevada institutions.  Goodwin is a graduate of the University of Utah School of Business and a licensed CPA in Utah.

Erin Burke Henderson is an Associate General Counsel in the Legal Regulatory Group at U.S. Bank. Henderson has previous experience as an in-house attorney in financial services, supporting both legal regulatory matters and the consumer mortgage line of business, and as an attorney in private practice. She focuses her practice on consumer regulatory issues.

Henderson earned her Bachelor’s from Pennsylvania State University and her JD from the University of Notre Dame School of Law

Gerald Hurst is Vice President and General Counsel of RBC Bank in Georgia. In his role, he is responsible for providing legal advice and support to RBC Bank regarding legal, compliance, and regulatory issues resulting from the various laws, rules, and regulations applicable to RBC Bank. In addition, he leads the RBC legal team which is responsible for providing support to RBC Global Procurement and Third-Party Risk, and he is a member of the RBC U.S. bank regulatory team. Prior to joining RBC Bank, he worked for Buckley LLP, Bank of America Corporation, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Hurst is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.

Tori Kaplan is the Chief Responsibility and Sustainability Officer for Truist. She partners with the company’s executive, business, and strategy leaders to develop, formalize, and promote Truist’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives to align with the bank’s purpose, mission, and values. In her role, Kaplan analyzes external trends and benchmarks to inform near- and long-term goals; builds relationships with internal and external partners to advance Truist’s sustainability goals; and works across the enterprise to ensure corporate responsibility practices are embedded throughout the business. She also has oversight of the Truist Charitable Fund, Workplace Giving and Enterprise Volunteerism.

Previously, Kaplan was head of Corporate Responsibility at SunTrust, where she spearheaded the organization’s first Corporate Responsibility report and led external reporting efforts to position the bank’s corporate responsibility policies and programs. Prior to SunTrust, Kaplan led the Corporate Social Responsibility team at CSX for 13 years, where she was instrumental in developing industry-leading CSR, corporate philanthropy, stakeholder engagement, and crisis response programs and initiatives. Kaplan is on the board of Carolina Farm Trust, a member of the EY Sustainability Group in Atlanta, the Georgia Tech Sustainability Advisory Council, and the Bank Sustainability Roundtable.

Elizabeth Kirk is a partner at White & Case in New York City. As a member of the firm’s Debt Finance practice group, Kirk advises investments banks, private equity groups, financial institutions, and credit agencies and borrowers on financial related matters. She also specializes in maritime and offshore sector law, having seconded to the Shipping, Offshore & Oil Services group at Nordea Bank Norge ASA and the firm’s EMEA Debt Finance team. Prior to joining the firm, Kirk worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London.

Kirk graduated with a BSJ from Northwestern University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Drew Kohan is the Associate Director at the Federal Reserve Board’s Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, responsible for Supervisory Policy and Outreach, UDAP Enforcement, and Fair Lending Enforcement. Prior to the Federal Reserve Board, Drew served as a Senior Compliance Officer at Capital One as well as a Senior Exam Manager at the CFPB.

He received his Bachelor’s from Villanova University and his MBA from Old Dominion University. Drew is also a graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Colorado.

Daniel Meade is a partner in Cadwalader’s bank regulatory practice in Washington, DC. He has substantial experience in sophisticated transactional bank regulatory issues, such as bank M&A, the Volcker Rule, bank powers, affiliate transactions, Basel III capital including capital relief trades (CRTs), tying, AML, sanctions, and Bank Holding Company Act, Community Reinvestment Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Act, and National Bank Act issues.

Meade most recently served as Senior Vice President and Managing Counsel at Wells Fargo, where he led a team providing advice to Wells Fargo’s Regulatory Relations and Government Relations and Public Policy functions. Earlier in his time at Wells Fargo, he worked as part of the general bank regulatory team, providing advice regarding banking statutes, regulations and policies issued by bank regulatory agencies that pertain to U.S. corporate-level bank and bank holding company regulatory laws and associated regulations, such as permissible activities, capital and liquidity rules, bank anti-tying rules, transactions with affiliates, branching and other office establishment issues, federal preemption, and federal antitrust laws. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Meade was a partner at a major law firm, providing general bank regulatory and M&A advice. Meade also worked as Senior Counsel to the House Financial Services Committee, with responsibility for drafting substantial portions of the banking law provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Earlier in his career, Meade worked on the Legal Staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, with responsibility for a variety of bank supervisory matters, including prudential regulation and bank M&A.

He earned his JD from the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America and an LLM from the Boston University School of Law. He received his BA, cum laude, from Providence College.

Lauren Mogensen serves as the Global General Counsel for Bank of America. In her role, she is responsible for overseeing the bank’s legal functions worldwide and also is a member of the Executive Management team. In her twenty-year tenure at the bank, she has served in a variety of executive roles. Previously, Mogensen worked as the head of Global Compliance and Operational Risk, managing the company’s governance and strategy programs and overseeing enterprise-wide Compliance and Operational Risk policies. She also served as the legal executive for several lines of business, including Human Resources, Commercial Banking, and Global Technology and Operations. She initially worked at FleetBoston Financial prior to its merger with the bank, eventually serving as Deputy General Counsel. Prior to Fleet, Mogensen worked as a partner at Locke Lorde LLP (previously Edwards & Angell, LLP).

Mogensen holds a BA in Government from Colby College and a JD from George Washington University.

Ed O’Keefe is the Co-head of Financial Regulatory Advice & Response at Moore & Van Allen. In his role, he advises and represents financial institutions, including investigations, litigation, regulatory compliance, governance, cybersecurity, compensation, and risk management. In addition, he advises on law department management and effective legal engagement with regulators and control functions. Prior to joining Moore & Van Allen, he served as the Global General Counsel of Bank of America Corporation and a senior executive with Bank of America’s compliance, technology, human resources, and operations functions.

O’Keefe earned a BA from the University of Rhode Island and a JD from Fordham University School of Law.

Matt Pearson is Associate General Counsel at Bank of America. He is a member of the Regulatory Inquiries Group (RIG) and leads the team responsible for government and regulatory investigations concerning banking products and services for consumers, businesses, and high net worth individuals. In prior roles, Matt managed high profile class action and False Claims Act litigation and oversaw stress testing for the Legal Department for the Bank’s annual Comprehensive Capital Assessment and Review (CCAR) submission. Before joining the Bank, Matt was in private practice in Charlotte specializing in consumer, business, and securities litigation.

Pearson is a graduate of Amherst College and the Washington and Lee School of Law.

Sonia Pfaffenroth is a partner at Arnold & Porter in Washington, DC. In her role, she assists  clients with international antitrust disputes. Previously, Pfaffenroth served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil and Criminal Operation in the Antitrust Division and the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice, supervising civil and criminal law enforcement efforts globally. Prior to her government work, she was a partner at Arnold & Porter where she conducted transactional and litigation work, including mergers and acquisitions and antitrust counseling.

Pfaffenroth received her BA from Carleton College and JD from Stanford Law School.

Michael Piwowar is the Executive Vice President of Finance at the Milken Institute. Prior to this role, he served as the Executive Director for the Center for Financial Markets, assisting in critically analyzing financial institutions. Previously, Piwowar served as Acting Chairman as well as a Commissioner for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He also was the Republican Party’s chief economist for the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, assisting in the drafting of the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. He also worked as a senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisors under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Additionally, Piwowar was a Principal at the Securities Litigation and Consulting Group.

Piwowar holds a BA in Foreign Service and International Politics and PhD from The Pennsylvania State University as well as an MBA from Georgetown University.

Lee Reiners is the Policy Director of the Duke Financial Economics Center at Duke University. He also serves as a lecturing fellow and has previously taught classes on FinTech, Cryptocurrency, Climate Change, and Cybersecurity Law and Policy. Reiners has written extensively on financial regulatory matters via the FinReg Blog. Previously, he worked as a senior associate and supervisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, assisting in the coordination of engagement with international and domestic regulatory agencies.  He has also taught finance and economics at Saint Peter’s University and is currently a Lecturing Fellow of Economics at the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences.

Reiners earned a BS in Business Economics from the University of St. Thomas and a MPP with a Global Policy concentration from the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Eric Spitler joined the UNC Law faculty in 2020 as an Adjunct Professor of Law. His teaching and research interests include banking and securities law, with a focus on legal responses to financial crises. Spitler is the author of a comprehensive review of the efforts to amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. His work has appeared in the American Banker and the North Carolina Banking Institute. He is a frequent speaker and lecturer on deposit insurance, financial reform and financial crises. Early in his career, Spitler practiced law at Neely & Player in Atlanta, Georgia and worked for two Members of Congress. Subsequently, Spitler served as Director of Legislative Affairs for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the 2008 financial crisis and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during the negotiations and passage of the Dodd Frank Act.  After retiring from the federal government, he formed Delverton Strategies, LLC, a financial consulting firm.

Graham Steele is the Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He serves as an expert on financial institutions and regulations for the executive agency. Prior to his role at the Treasury Department, Steele was the director of the Corporations and Society Initiative at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business where he oversaw research focused on issues to promote “accountable capitalism” and governance. He also worked as a staff member at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. He also has held a variety of policy roles, simultaneously serving as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Sherrod Brown and staff director for the Senate’s Subcommittee on Financial Institutions & Consumer Protection.

Steele graduated with a BA in Political Science from the University of Rochester and a JD from The George Washington University Law School.

John Stoker is the Senior Counsel in Moore & Van Allen’s Financial Regulatory Advice & Response Team. Stoker advises clients on a broad array of federal and state banking laws and regulations impacting financial services products, services, and operations. He supports clients in evaluating the permissibility and compliance considerations associated with new product and strategic investment initiatives as well as assisting clients in risk management remediation projects.

Prior to joining Moore & Van Allen, Stoker led the Corporate Regulatory Section in the Wells Fargo Legal Department. During his 15 years with Wells Fargo, he served as a senior member and then as the manager of the Section, which provided legal support on regulatory compliance requirements to business groups and to the company’s compliance, risk, regulatory relations, and other enterprise functions. He engaged directly with bank regulatory authorities at senior levels concerning significant regulatory issues, including the permissibility of products and investments, strategic acquisitions, and supervisory and enforcement matters, and he also served as a Legal Department representative on various enterprise risk management governance committees.

Stoker received his undergraduate and legal degrees from the University of North Carolina. He is a regular speaker at the University of North Carolina Law School’s annual ABCs of Banking Law program.

Margaret Tahyar is the Head of Financial Institutions at Davis Polk. As the head of the practice group, Tahyar provides strategic bank and regulatory advice to financial institutions and also assists clients on corporate governance, bank chartering, securities disclosure, and mergers and acquisitions. She also is a member of the Fintech team and serves as an advisor on digital assets, cryptocurrencies and financial technology partnerships. In addition, Tahyar is a member of the FDIC’s Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee. She is also a prolific author, having co-written Financial Regulation: Law and Policy and FinTech Law: The Case Studies.

Tahyar received her AB from the University of Michigan and a JD from Columbia Law School.