Partner, Oliver Wyman
Douglas Elliott is a Partner at Oliver Wyman in New York, where he focuses on financial regulation and associated public policy issues and their implications for the financial sector.
He analyzes a wide range of issues and has published papers on such diverse topics as “Financial Institutions in an Age of Populism,” “Data Rights in Finance,” and “Tackling Global Market Fragmentation in Banking.” He has also written extensively on the impacts of capital and liquidity requirements, including a 150-page literature review in 2016, which followed on an earlier study for the IMF. Recently he addressed the finance ministers and central bank governors of the 28 EU member states on the topic of “Rebooting Capital Markets Union.”
Prior to joining the firm, he was a Fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution, generally ranked as the world’s top think tank. He primarily analyzed financial institutions and markets and their regulation, along with extensive analysis of the Euro Crisis. He has twice been a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund. Mr. Elliott also worked as a consultant for the IMF, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank. Prior to Brookings, he was a financial institutions investment banker for two decades, principally at J.P. Morgan.
He has testified multiple times before both houses of Congress and participated in numerous speaking engagements, as well as appearing widely in the major media outlets. The New York Times has described his analyses as “refreshingly understandable” and “without a hint of dogma or advocacy.”
Mr. Elliott graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude with an A.B. in Sociology in 1981. In 1984, he graduated from Duke University with an M.A. in Computer Science.
Executive Director, Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets
Michael S. Piwowar is the executive director of the Milken Institute Center for Financial Markets. Dr. Piwowar served as a Commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from August 15, 2013 to July 6, 2018. He was first appointed to the SEC by President Barack Obama and was designated Acting Chairman of the Commission by President Donald Trump from January 23, 2017 to May 4, 2017. He was previously the Republican chief economist for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs under Senators Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) and served as the lead Republican economist on the four SEC-related titles of the Dodd-Frank Act and the JOBS Act. During the financial crisis and its immediate aftermath, Dr. Piwowar served in a one-year fixed-term position at the White House as a senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) in both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations. Before joining the White House, Dr. Piwowar worked as a Principal at the Securities Litigation and Consulting Group (SLCG). He received a B.A. in Foreign Service and International Politics from the Pennsylvania State University, an M.B.A. from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from the Pennsylvania State University.
Former Commissioner, The Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Dawn Stump is a senior leader and regulatory expert in domestic and international financial services. Her experience and thought leadership have tactically identified potential risks and initiated regulatory and systemic solutions to protect industries, infrastructures, and economies. Based on her global perspective and industry expertise, Dawn is able to raise critical financial services issues to the board level and/or the global stage as business environments fluctuate. She is widely respected for her leadership, bipartisanism, and consensus building among senior government officials, senior regulatory ministry officials, corporate, and academic leaders worldwide.
Recently, she completed her term as a Commissioner of the CFTC, the independent U.S. agency that regulates the $200+ Trillion derivatives market. As one of five Commissioners, she helped to shape the priorities of the agency while overseeing policy direction and internal planning. Dawn prioritized sector resilience in evolving global markets through robust regulatory strategies necessary during market volatility and changing economic environments. Within the agency, she also championed the importance of enterprise-wide risk management practices. Specifically, Dawn initiated new agency wide data protection procedures for the consistent handling of data intake and strengthening of responses to potential cyber intrusions.
Previously, as Senior Vice President of the Futures Industry Association and concurrently Executive Director of its Americas Advisory Board, Dawn advised its President and global Board of Directors on the impacts of public policy changes on the industry and association members. Earlier, she was Vice President of Government Affairs for NYSE Euronext where she developed regulatory compliance policies alongside her international counterparts to ensure adherence across jurisdictions. Her leadership was critical to the establishment of a new U.S. based derivative exchange/clearing house.
During her early career in public service, she served as majority and minority senior professional staff for the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, and initially on the staff of U.S. Senator Phil Gramm. She was actively involved in negotiating the reform of derivatives regulations contained in the Dodd-Frank Act and efforts to conduct oversight of commodity and financial derivatives, under the jurisdiction of the CFTC.
Dawn shares her professional expertise as a member of the 3-person Advisory Council to the Women In Derivative’s (WIND) Board of Directors and through committee service for the National Charity League. She earned a Bachelor of Science from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas and is a past President of the Texas Tech Alumni Association’s Washington, DC Chapter. Dawn and her husband have two children and live in the greater Washington, DC area.
Executive Director, The Financial Technology and Cybersecurity Center
Thomas P. Vartanian is the Executive Director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center, an author, financial services advisor, expert witness, and board mentor. He is the former Executive Director of the Program on Financial Regulation & Technology at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where he was also a Professor of Law. Between 1983 and 2018, he chaired the Financial Institution’s practices at two international law firms, Dechert LLP and Fried Frank LLP, through four financial crises. Both as a regulator and private practitioner, he has represented parties in a majority of the 50 largest financial institution failures in American history.
Mr. Vartanian served in the Reagan Administration during the S&L crisis as General Counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC. Prior to that, he served in the Carter Administration in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel. Since departing government service, he has advised many subsequent presidential administrations on financial institution issues.
Mr. Vartanian is a futurist and expert in financial technology who has been described by clients in Chambers as “one of the best financial services lawyers in America.” Mr. Vartanian was Chairman of the American Bar Association’s Cyberspace Law Committee between 1998 and 2002, where he chaired an international task force of lawyers from twenty countries which released a seminal report in London in 2000 on the novel issues created by doing business in Cyberspace. He is currently a member of the American Association of Bank Directors’ Task Force on Bank Director Personal Liability Mitigation.
Mr. Vartanian has authored more than four hundred articles and eight books, including his new book, 200 Years of American Financial Panics: Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology That Will Change It All chronicling the country’s tumultuous financial history and the impact that technology will have on its future.
He is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on the financial services industry, having appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNN, Fox News, Newsmax, PBS and various local and national radio shows. He has also taught financial services and digital commerce law at Georgetown Law School, George Washington Law School, and Boston University School of Law, and has been a guest lecturer at Harvard Law School.
In 2008, Mr. Vartanian was named “Washingtonian of the Year” based on his use of music and sports to raise money for charities in the D.C. metropolitan area. As a musician, he appeared in the first production in the United States in 1970 of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His classic rock band, The Johnny Esquire Band, has helped raise approximately $5,000,000 for charities in the Washington D.C. area over the last twenty-five years. Mr. Vartanian also founded and plays for the Washington All Stars, a senior baseball team that has raised more than $500,000 for Special Olympics.
His next book, The Unhackable Internet, will be published in early 2023.
Partner, Fusion Law, PLLC
Paul is the founding partner of Fusion Law, PLLC. He has extensive experience with state, federal, and global regulators building coalitions and implementing policies to promote innovation in financial services. He is responsible for designing and implementing the first state (Arizona) and federal (CFPB) FinTech sandboxes in the United States. He also designed the CFPB no-action letter and trial disclosure policies. He helped found the first global regulatory innovation coalition (Global Financial Innovation Network) and led the founding of the first U.S. regulatory innovation coalition (American Consumer Financial Innovation Network). He served on the Financial Stability Oversight Council subcommittee on digital assets. He also has drafted state-level laws on blockchain and utility tokens.
Paul also has significant enforcement and litigation experience. He led many multi-state consumer protection enforcement matters as Civil Litigation Division Chief at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
Prior to his government service, Paul practiced law in the areas of securities litigation and transactional work for approximately six years at two well-known law firms. He also clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
Erika C. Birg is a partner based out of the Atlanta office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. She focuses her practice on helping companies protect their businesses before, during, and after litigation, with experience in resolving business-to-business disputes through litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and state and federal appeals involving business torts, contract disputes, trade secrets, misappropriation, computer fraud, and non-compete matters.
Arbitrator, Attorney & Former Professor of ADR Law
Richard D. Faulkner, J.D., LL.M., F.C.I.Arb., Dip.Intl.Com.Arb., is a former Professor of Alternate Dispute Resolution Law, former Tutor - Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, North American Branch, and practices arbitration, commercial, and insurance law in Dallas. He has been a trial judge in Louisiana and Texas, counsel or arbitrator in hundreds of domestic arbitrations, counsel or arbitrator in international arbitrations, authored arbitration briefs in U.S. Supreme Court, argued or briefed arbitration issues in federal and state appellate courts, and authored or coauthored numerous articles on arbitration. He is a contributing author to ABA reference "How Arbitration Works," 6th Ed.
Partner, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
Erika C. Birg is a partner based out of the Atlanta office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. She focuses her practice on helping companies protect their businesses before, during, and after litigation, with experience in resolving business-to-business disputes through litigation, alternative dispute resolution, and state and federal appeals involving business torts, contract disputes, trade secrets, misappropriation, computer fraud, and non-compete matters.
Arbitrator, Attorney & Former Professor of ADR Law
Richard D. Faulkner, J.D., LL.M., F.C.I.Arb., Dip.Intl.Com.Arb., is a former Professor of Alternate Dispute Resolution Law, former Tutor - Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, North American Branch, and practices arbitration, commercial, and insurance law in Dallas. He has been a trial judge in Louisiana and Texas, counsel or arbitrator in hundreds of domestic arbitrations, counsel or arbitrator in international arbitrations, authored arbitration briefs in U.S. Supreme Court, argued or briefed arbitration issues in federal and state appellate courts, and authored or coauthored numerous articles on arbitration. He is a contributing author to ABA reference "How Arbitration Works," 6th Ed.
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. On a wide range of issues, from K-12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).
Mr. Kurtz has published two influential books on President Obama’s political history and policy agenda: Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Threshold) and Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities (Sentinel). He has also led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University. He later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books Program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Stanley Kurtz is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. On a wide range of issues, from K-12 and higher education reform, to the challenges of democratization abroad, to urban-suburban policies, to the shaping of the American left’s agenda, Mr. Kurtz is a key contributor to American public debates. Mr. Kurtz has written on these and other issues for various journals, particularly National Review Online (where he is a contributing editor).
Mr. Kurtz has published two influential books on President Obama’s political history and policy agenda: Radical-in-Chief: Barack Obama and the Untold Story of American Socialism (Threshold) and Spreading the Wealth: How Obama is Robbing the Suburbs to Pay for the Cities (Sentinel). He has also led the campaign to reform federal subsidies to academic programs of “area studies” under Title VI of the Higher Education Act.
Mr. Kurtz received his undergraduate degree from Haverford College and his Ph.D. in social anthropology from Harvard University. He later taught at Harvard, winning several teaching awards for his work in a Great Books Program. He was also Dewey Prize Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Chicago.
Garwood Visiting Professor and Visiting Fellow, James Madison Pr, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law
David F. Forte is Professor of Law at Cleveland State University, where he was the inaugural holder of the Charles R. Emrick, Jr.- Calfee Halter & Griswold Endowed Chair. This fall, Professor Forte will be the Garwood Visiting Professor at Princeton University in the Department of Politics, and Visiting Fellow at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. He holds degrees from Harvard College, Manchester University, England, the University of Toronto and Columbia University.
During the Reagan administration, Professor Forte served as chief counsel to the United States delegation to the United Nations and alternate delegate to the Security Council. He has authored a number of briefs before the United States Supreme Court, and has frequently testified before the United States Congress and consulted with the Department of State on human rights and international affairs issues. His advice was specifically sought on the approval of the Genocide Convention, on world-wide religious persecution, and Islamic extremism. He has appeared and spoken frequently on radio and television, both nationally and internationally. In 2002, the Department of State sponsored a speaking tour for Professor Forte in Amman, Jordan, and he was also a featured speaker to the Meeting of Peoples in Rimini, Italy, a meeting which gathers over 500,000 people from all over Europe. He has also been called to testify before the state legislatures of Ohio, Kansas, and Idaho as well as the New York City Council. He has assisted in drafting a number of pieces of legislation for the Ohio General Assembly dealing with abortion, international trade, and federalism. He has sat as acting judge on the municipal court of Lakewood Ohio and was chairman of Professional Ethics Committee of the Cleveland Bar Association. He has received a number of awards for his public service, including the Cleveland Bar Association’s President’s Award, the Cleveland State University Award for Distinguished Service, the Cleveland State University Distinguished Teaching Award, and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence. He served as Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the Family under Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. In 2003, Dr. Forte was a Distinguished Fulbright Chair at the University of Trento and returned there in 2004 as a Visiting Professor. For the academic year, 2008-2009, Professor Forte was Senior Visiting Scholar at the Center for the Study of Religion and the Constitution in at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey. He was the Robert E. Henderson Constitution Day Lecturer at the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, and he has given over 300 invited addresses and papers at more than 100 academic institutions. His work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Professor Forte was a Bradley Scholar at the Heritage Foundation, and Visiting Scholar at the Liberty Fund. He has been President of the Ohio Association of Scholars, was on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Society, and is also adjunct Scholar at the Ashbrook Center. He has been appointed to the Ohio State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He has also been a Civil War re-enactor and a Merit Badge Counselor for the Boy Scouts.
He writes and speaks nationally on topics such as constitutional law, religious liberty, Islamic law, the rights of families, and international affairs. He served as book review editor for the American Journal of Jurisprudence and has edited a volume entitled, Natural Law and Contemporary Public Policy, published by Georgetown University Press. His book, Islamic Law Studies: Classical and Contemporary Applications, has been published by Austin & Winfield. He is Senior Editor of The Heritage Guide to the Constitution (2006), 2d edition (2014), published by Regnery & Co, a clause by clause analysis of the Constitution of the United States.
His teaching competencies include Constitutional Law, the First Amendment, Islamic Law, Jurisprudence, Natural Law, International Law, International Human Rights, the Presidency, and Constitutional History.
President, Committee for Justice
Curt Levey is President of the Committee For Justice, an organization devoted to advancing constitutionally limited government and individual liberty. He is a veteran of Supreme Court and other judicial confirmation battles and serves on the executive committee of the Federalist Society's Civil Rights Practice Group.
After graduating Harvard Law School with honors and clerking for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Mr. Levey served as Director of Legal & Public Affairs at the Center for Individual Rights (CIR). There he worked on landmark Supreme Court cases, including the University of Michigan affirmative action cases and the successful constitutional challenge to the Violence Against Women Act. After CIR, Mr. Levey headed the Title IX policy group at the U.S. Department of Education.
Before attending law school, Mr. Levey earned an M.S. and B.A. in computer science from Brown University and worked in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). He invented a new type of AI technology, for which he wrote a successful patent application.
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