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This week, we host Dennis Garcia, someone has been a leader at the intersection of law, technology, and business for over 25 years. He is currently Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, where he leads the legal support function for the Microsoft Americas Strategic Customer Pursuit, Partner Solutions, and Sales Enablement & Operations teams—among many other responsibilities. Dennis' journey into tech law began during law school, where he had the opportunity to support in-house counsel at IBM. That early exposure sparked a lasting interest in the intersection of legal practice and innovation. After graduating, he was hired by IBM for a full-time position, negotiating licensing and sale agreements. Dennis then served as counsel at Accenture, advising the Communications & High Tech and Financial Services Market Units. Today, Dennis shares stories from his early days at IBM, and how he developed his skills as a deal lawyer at Accenture. He also discusses the different ways he has been using Copilot in his work, as well as the ethical considerations of using generative AI in legal practice. Read the full transcript of today's episode here: https://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/podcast_transcripts/Pioneers_DennisGarcia.pdf
In this episode of the Investing in Integrity podcast, Ross Overline, CEO and co-founder of Scholars of Finance, sits down with John Geelan, General Counsel and Secretary at Piper Sandler Companies.For 20 years, John has been a driving force at Piper Sandler, rising from Assistant General Counsel in 2005 to leading the firm's legal department. With deep expertise in corporate governance, public company reporting, and corporate development, he has helped steer the firm through complex legal and strategic challenges. As President of the Piper Sandler Foundation, he also ensures the firm's philanthropic efforts align with its broader mission.John's journey provides a unique lens into the intersection of law, finance, and corporate responsibility. He shares insights on creativity in problem-solving, maintaining mental health in leadership, and navigating high-stakes decision-making. Plus, he explores policy shifts in Washington and the growing influence of AI in financial services.Meet John GeelanJohn Geelan is the General Counsel and Secretary of Piper Sandler Companies, a role he has held since 2012. As a member of the firm's executive leadership team, he oversees legal, governance, and regulatory matters while also serving as President of the Piper Sandler Foundation. Geelan joined the company in 2005 after working in private practice at Faegre & Benson LLP. He serves on the boards of the Children's Theatre Company and The Fund for Legal Aid. Geelan holds a bachelor's degree in economics and music from the University of St. Thomas and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.
Elaina Kim Benfield, Assistant General Counsel at Vanguard, sits down with Andy Vitrano, Senior Vice President Manager of Coaching and Special Programs at Baird, to explore the power of being connected to others and having a shared purpose in driving success. They discuss how organizations thrive when colleagues support one another, hold each other accountable, acknowledge “invisible excellence,” embrace vulnerability and focus on pathways to change.
In Episode 3, host Jordan L. Fischer, Esq. interviews Corey Dennis, Chief Privacy Officer & Assistant General Counsel at Legend Biotech, where he leads the global privacy, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence legal programs. In this episode, Jordan and Corey walk through two recent developments that are impacting data strategies in the healthcare and life sciences industry: the EU NIS2 Directive and the Department of Justice ("DOJ") Final Rule on the bulk transfer of sensitive data to “countries of concern” or “persons of concern.” Corey provides practical insights into the way that both of these new requirements are impacting businesses, as well as considerations for businesses who are required to comply with these changes. For more information on Corey Dennis, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corey-m-dennis-cipp/. To contact our host, Jordan L. Fischer, Esq., regarding this podcast or to inquire into becoming a guest, please contact Ms. Fischer at jordan@jordanfischer.me.
In this episode, I am joined by Don Ziel, Senior Vice President of the Church and Ministry Alliance and Assistant General Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. Together, we explore Don's work in defending religious freedom, the biggest legal challenges facing churches and ministries today, and the steps leaders must take to protect their mission. Don't miss this insightful conversation on faith, law, and navigating cultural and legal battles with courage.
In this episode, I am joined by Don Ziel, Senior Vice President of the Church and Ministry Alliance and Assistant General Counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. Together, we explore Don's work in defending religious freedom, the biggest legal challenges facing churches and ministries today, and the steps leaders must take to protect their mission. Don't miss this insightful conversation on faith, law, and navigating cultural and legal battles with courage.
Welcome to the award-winning FCPA Compliance Report, the longest-running compliance podcast. In this episode, Tom welcomes Eric Morehead to discuss the role and function of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Eric is the Director of Advisory Services Solutions at LRN and former Assistant General Counsel at the U.S. Sentencing Commission. He and Tom review the intricacies of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's role, structure, and impact. Eric walks through his professional journey and explains the Sentencing Commission's function in standardizing federal criminal sentences and promoting organizational compliance programs. He emphasizes the importance of the Sentencing Guidelines, the process for their amendment, and the challenges faced by the Commission, such as quorum issues. The discussion also touches on current topics, including the potential impact of executive orders on DEI policies and the FCPA pause, stressing the continued relevance of the Sentencing Guidelines in compliance program development. Key highlights: Eric Morehead's Background and Role at the U.S. Sentencing Commission Understanding the U.S. Sentencing Commission Process of Creating and Amending Sentencing Guidelines Impact of Sentencing Guidelines on Compliance Programs Current Issues in Compliance: DEI and FCPA Enforcement Resources: Eric Morehead on LinkedIn LRN US Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations Tom Fox Instagram Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Based on AHLA's annual Health Law Connections article, this special series brings together thought leaders from across the health law field to discuss the top ten issues of 2025. In the first episode, Hilary Isacson, Assistant General Counsel, Sutter Health, speaks with Daniel J. Hettich, Partner, King & Spalding LLP, about the impact that the Supreme Courtâs Loper Bright decision is having on Medicare reimbursement. They discuss the impact on CMSâ approach to rulemaking and whether providers will have more opportunities to challenge CMS actions, how providers should navigate this new environment, and important cases to follow. From AHLA's Regulation, Accreditation, and Payment Practice Group.Watch the conversation here.AHLA's Health Law Daily Podcast Is Here! AHLA's popular Health Law Daily email newsletter is now a daily podcast, exclusively for AHLA Premium members. Get all your health law news from the major media outlets on this new podcast! To subscribe and add this private podcast feed to your podcast app, go to americanhealthlaw.org/dailypodcast.
In the episode of CLOC Talk, guest host Jeremiah Kincannon chats with Justin Schweisberger, Chief Revenue Officer at Pramata and Kari Walden, Assistant General Counsel at Jack Henry about strategic planning in legal operations. They explore the importance of aligning legal operations with company strategy. And, share hurdles and successes, like improving sales contract processes and implementing post-contract management systems. Justin and Kari emphasize the significance of communication, timing, and achieving quick wins to gain buy-in for legal operations initiatives. Tune in as they offer tips on persisting through failure and learning from experiences!Special thanks to our sponsor Pramata for this episode!
While we are on our winter publishing break, please enjoy an episode of our N2K CyberWire network show, The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast by Microsoft Threat Intelligence. See you in 2025! On this week's episode of The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast, we discuss the collaborative effort between Microsoft and Fortra to combat the illegal use of cracked Cobalt Strike software, which is commonly employed in ransomware attacks. To break down the situation, our host, Sherrod DeGrippo, is joined by Richard Boscovich, Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, Jason Lyons, Principal Investigator with the DCU, and Bob Erdman, Associate VP Research and Development at Fortra. The discussion covers the creative use of DMCA notifications tailored by geographic region to combat cybercrime globally. The group express their optimism about applying these successful techniques to other areas, such as phishing kits, and highlight ongoing efforts to make Cobalt Strike harder to abuse. In this episode you'll learn: The impact on detection engineers due to the crackdown on cracked Cobalt Strike Extensive automation used to detect and dismantle large-scale threats How the team used the DMCA creatively to combat cybercrime Some questions we ask: Do you encounter any pushback when issuing DMCA notifications? How do you plan to proceed following the success of this operation? Can you explain the legal mechanisms behind this take-down? Resources: View Jason Lyons on LinkedIn View Bob Erdman on LinkedIn View Richard Boscovich on LinkedIn View Sherrod DeGrippo on LinkedIn Related Microsoft Podcasts: Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson The BlueHat Podcast Uncovering Hidden Risks Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts Get the latest threat intelligence insights and guidance at Microsoft Security Insider The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast is produced by Microsoft and distributed as part of N2K media network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Shannon Llenza, Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft and Commander, U.S. Navy Reserve (retired), reflects with Reed Smith data coordinator Mark Butterfield, a member of RSVets, Reed Smith's veterans business inclusion group, on how her military service has impacted her legal, governmental, and corporate career.
On today's podcast, I am talking with Bill, We will chat about where he picked up his privacy skills. In high school, Bill's job was to deliver beer, Baker Donelson is where he began his privacy career!
This week's Clause 8 episode features Bridget Smith, Assistant General Counsel and Director, Intellectual Property at Relativity Space—the first company to successfully create and launch a 3D-printed rocket.
Bryan Barash, Senior Director, Assistant General Counsel at Dutchie discusses the potential impact of the 2024 Presidential election on cannabis legalization, emphasizing the importance of social equity in Florida's cannabis market and the need for federal relief to address corruption and ensure fair competition. The challenges posed by the absence of a SAFE banking act were highlighted, emphasizing the need for compliance to maintain consumer trust. Bryan introduced its Dutchie 2.0 platform, which aims to enhance the customer experience, drive revenue, and streamline operations, with a focus on compliance and advanced payment solutions. The conversation also explored the ongoing DEA rescheduling process, potential policy changes like the MORE Act and Safe Banking Act, and the differing approaches of Democratic and Republican-led states. Additionally, optimism about upcoming state ballot measures in Ohio and Pennsylvania was expressed, alongside recognition of hurdles in more conservative regions.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Ako Shimada is the Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Ushio America Inc. Ako also serves as General Counsel for Ushio Europe BV and is an independent director for Fujitech. She shares her story of embracing her Japanese heritage and transforming her career. The discussion covers her journey from growing up in Japan to pursuing law in the U.S., her experiences in litigation and in-house roles, and her strategic approach to seeking board positions. You will hear a story of someone who is brave in speaking up about what they would like to do. Listen as each piece falls into place! If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we'd love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to Apple Podcasts to leave a review and we'd love it if you would leave us a message here! In this episode you'll hear: How Ako found her way to study law after a stint in journalism and studying psychology Ako's journey to owning her Japanese DNA and how that has transformed her life and career The extraordinary story of being nominated for a board role by an activist company Ako's tips for preparing for board roles and networking Her favorite authors and other fun facts About Ako Ako Shimada is Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Ushio America, Inc., in Cypress, California and General Counsel of Ushio Europe B.V. in the Netherlands, leading providers of light sources and solutions for a variety of applications including scientific, medical, semiconductor, entertainment, horticulture, and architectural applications. In her role as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Ako oversees the company's legal, compliance, risk management, and corporate governance matters. Previously she held Assistant General Counsel positions at Christie Digital Systems USA, Inc., and Apria Healthcare LLC. Ako is also an independent outside director for Fujitec Co., Ltd. (TYO:6406), a publicly traded manufacturer of elevators and escalators headquartered in Japan with global operations and serves on the Nomination and Compensation Advisory Committee. She also serves as a board member of KA Imaging Inc. in Kitchener, Canada, a developer of cutting-edge multi-energy X-ray detectors and micro-CT scanners for a wide variety of applications. Ako serves as a board director of the Southern California Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel. She is also a Council Leader for the U.S.-Japan Council (USJC). USJC's mission is to develop and connect diverse leaders to create a stronger U.S.-Japan relationship. Ako is also a charter member of the Japan Board Diversity Network, an influential global network of female board directors and senior professionals dedicated to improving corporate governance and board diversity in Japan. Ako received her bachelor's degree in psychology (highest distinction) from Northwestern University and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Connect with Ako LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akoshimada/ Links L'Effervescence https://www.leffervescence.jp/ Connect with Catherine Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/oconnellcatherine/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawyeronair YouTube: https://youtube.com/@lawyeronair
On this week's episode of The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast, we discuss the collaborative effort between Microsoft and Fortra to combat the illegal use of cracked Cobalt Strike software, which is commonly employed in ransomware attacks. To break down the situation, our host, Sherrod DeGrippo, is joined by Richard Boscovich, Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, Jason Lyons, Principal Investigator with the DCU, and Bob Erdman, Associate VP Research and Development at Fortra. The discussion covers the creative use of DMCA notifications tailored by geographic region to combat cybercrime globally. The group express their optimism about applying these successful techniques to other areas, such as phishing kits, and highlight ongoing efforts to make Cobalt Strike harder to abuse. In this episode you'll learn: The impact on detection engineers due to the crackdown on cracked Cobalt Strike Extensive automation used to detect and dismantle large-scale threats How the team used the DMCA creatively to combat cybercrime Some questions we ask: Do you encounter any pushback when issuing DMCA notifications? How do you plan to proceed following the success of this operation? Can you explain the legal mechanisms behind this take-down? Resources: View Jason Lyons on LinkedIn View Bob Erdman on LinkedIn View Richard Boscovich on LinkedIn View Sherrod DeGrippo on LinkedIn Related Microsoft Podcasts: Afternoon Cyber Tea with Ann Johnson The BlueHat Podcast Uncovering Hidden Risks Discover and follow other Microsoft podcasts at microsoft.com/podcasts Get the latest threat intelligence insights and guidance at Microsoft Security Insider The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast is produced by Microsoft and distributed as part of N2K media network.
Sean sat down with Dana McMahon, Chief Compliance Officer for Stryker to discuss all the great things she and her team are doing to ensure a culture of compliance and to lead Stryker into the future. Beyond that Dana is the Global President for Stryker Women's Network (see bio below)! This is one great discussion you do not want to miss! Bio Dana serves as Chief Compliance Officer for Stryker and is responsible for overseeing the global compliance, privacy, and enterprise risk programs and functions. Under her leadership, the Compliance function has been focused on driving value for Stryker by partnering across the businesses to enable growth and manage risk. Dana also currently serves as the global president for Stryker Women's Network, which seeks to improve Stryker's results by fostering an open and inclusive culture, with a focus on attracting, developing, and retaining talented women. Dana has more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry. She joined Stryker in 2017 as Chief Legal Counsel, leading a global legal team advising on regulatory and quality, manufacturing and supply, technology and cybersecurity, commercial and government contracting, and privacy. Prior to Stryker, she served as Assistant General Counsel at Novo Nordisk, where during her 14-year career she held several positions of escalating responsibility within the legal team, overseeing support to the commercial, clinical, medical affairs, R&D, compliance, and government affairs organizations. Dana has worked extensively on matters related to product development and commercialization, market access and reimbursement, and compliance and risk management. Previously, Dana worked in private practice at O'Melveny in New York City. Dana received her law degree from New York University School of Law and her bachelor's degree from Hamilton College.
In the final edition of our new podcast miniseries series, Behind the Font, we answer your questions about font licensing [cue Jeopardy theme]! Once again, Monotype's Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Phil Carey-Bergren wades into the intricacies of font licensing with our host, Carl Unger. Topics include the implications of breaching font licenses, the significance of copyright, and what to do if you accidentally breach a contract or misuse a font license. Behind the Font is exactly what it sounds like - a podcast miniseries that looks behind the creative work we love to better understand how creative work gets done. Have a question or topic you'd like us to explore? Email us at podcast@monotype.com and we may cover it!
In the second edition of our new podcast miniseries series, Behind the Font, we dig into the technical side of font licensing [cue psycho theme]. Our Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Phil Carey-Bergren, and host, Carl Unger, dissect the main parts of a font license and walk us through some common font licensing use cases you might see at work. Behind the Font is exactly what it sounds like - a podcast miniseries that looks behind the creative work we love to better understand how creative work gets done. Have a question or topic you'd like us to explore? Email us at podcast@monotype.com and we may cover it!
In this episode, Bridget Smith, Assistant General Counsel and Director, Intellectual Property for Relativity Space joins the podcast to discuss her company, how her job involves trade secrets, her views on measures to protect trade secrets given her company's unique assets, and other subjects.
In the first-ever edition of our new podcast miniseries, Behind the Font, we dive into the often murky and mysterious waters of font licensing [cue Jaws theme]. Our guest for this journey into the depths is Monotype Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Phil Carey-Bergren, and we couldn't ask for a better person to walk us through the ins and outs of these contracts. In Part 1, we get a crash course in recent font history to understand how licenses have evolved and why this matters to today's brands, designers, and agencies. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where we'll dissect the elements of a license and ask the question everyone is thinking - do I really need to read this whole thing? Behind the Font is exactly what it sounds like - a podcast miniseries that looks behind the creative work we love to better understand how creative work gets done. Have a question or topic you'd like us to explore? Email us at podcast@monotype.com and we may cover it!
In this episode of the Great Women in Compliance podcast, Hemma and Ellen host a roundtable with Hope Anderson, a partner in White & Case's Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice, and Jean Liu, Assistant General Counsel, Privacy, Safety, and Regulatory Affairs who joined Microsoft in 2023 as part of the Nuance Communications, Inc. acquisition. Together, Hope and Jean have a wealth of experience advising on privacy, AI, and data governance compliance issues and they are well positioned to leverage this experience in the wake of a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. Hemma and Ellen didn't waste a minute mining these two experts for practical tips and recommendations for those of us looking to get smart quick and grapple with what seems like a behemoth task of keeping up with developments in the technology and the legislation, while at the same time, making sure we don't get left behind in learning to leverage AI in our own functions. Join us for an engaging ride through the ups and downs of privacy and AI compliance, and be inspired as we were by the great opportunities to develop new and exciting use cases while mitigating risk and the chance to unlock the power of responsible and ethical AI for our businesses. Key Highlights Getting up to speed with rapidly evolving regulatory landscape The role of AI principles vs policies and procedures Human Rights, Bias, and AI Keeping the “Human in the Loop” Thoughts on a US Federal AI or Privacy Law Leveraging AI for Ethics and Compliance Key resources and recommendations Resources Join the Great Women in Compliance community on LinkedIn here.
Riker Danzig partners Jim Lott and Diane Hickey were our special guests for the second episode of Season 3, moderated by our co-hosts Mike O'Donnell and Bethany Abele. Jim and Diane practice in Riker's Governmental Affairs practice with extensive experience in Land Use law, regularly dealing with disputes over title, and continually interacting with planning boards and the Department of Transportation at the intersection of title law and real estate development. They explained to Bethany and Mike that most of their title examination for commercial development comes during thorough due diligence, whether for developers, lenders or investors, which serves to help avoid most title disputes. They advise as to the best courses of action to address a potential title issue in appearances before planning boards, from controversial warehouse projects, and commercial shopping centers to lighting applications for drive-up ATMs. Diane also addressed specific issues faced by cannabis licensees with applications before the local planning and zoning boards, when title insurance companies are not issuing policies because of federal law hurdles for real property transactions with cannabis uses. Jim also provided insight on being attentive to DOT access rights for properties located along state highways when considering subdividing or changing lot lines, and dealing with easements in the planning board context. Next, Mike interviewed then-associate Thomas Persico, who is now serving as Assistant General Counsel with JPMorgan Chase. Tom explained the Community Wealth Preservation Program established by Governor Murphy early this year, which aims to intercept foreclosed-upon residential properties before public auction by giving first and second rights of refusal to purchase after foreclosure. The goal of the program is to keep generational wealth within families. Tom addressed how the Act works and the various restrictions, as well as how sales under the Program differ from other foreclosure sales. Mike and Tom discussed the process of exercising the rights of refusal, exploring how sheriff's offices are enforcing deed restrictions and addressing complaints. They also identified areas of the Program that will likely be clarified in the future.
Kristin Shapiro joins She Thinks podcast to discuss this month's policy focus: Au Pairs for Senior Care. We delve into the very real need that the current senior population and future generations have in finding cost-effective, in-home care as they age. In our discussion, we look at the current Au Pair program, which is currently limited to child care, and explain how the State Department can expand it so that seniors can stay in their homes and receive support services all while reducing the high costs associated. Kristin Shapiro is a senior fellow with Independent Women's Forum. She has clerked for Chief Judge Alex Kozinski on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Following her clerkship, Shapiro practiced law as an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP, a D.C. law firm, for six years, where she litigated numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court and the federal courts of appeal and district courts. She then served as Assistant General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives for three years; worked at the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice; and currently practices appellate and constitutional law in Washington, DC.--She Thinks is a podcast for women (and men) who are sick of the spin in today's news cycle and are seeking the truth. Once a week, every week, She Thinks host Beverly Hallberg is joined by guests who cut through the clutter and bring you the facts. You don't have to keep up with policy and politics to understand how issues will impact you and the people you care about most. You just have to keep up with us. We make sure you have the information you need to come to your own conclusions. Because, let's face it, you're in control of your own life and can think for yourself. You can listen to the latest She Thinks episode(s) here or wherever you get your podcasts. Then subscribe, rate, and share with your friends. If you are already caught up and want more, join our online community. Be sure to subscribe to our emails to ensure you're equipped with the facts on the issues you care about most: https://iwf.org/connect. Independent Women's Forum (IWF) believes all issues are women's issues. IWF promotes policies that aren't just well-intended, but actually enhance people's freedoms, opportunities, and choices. IWF doesn't just talk about problems. We identify solutions and take them straight to the playmakers and policy creators. And, as a 501(c)3, IWF educates the public about the most important topics of the day. Check out the Independent Women's Forum website for more information on how policies impact you, your loved ones, and your community: www.iwf.org. Subscribe to IWF's YouTube channel. Follow IWF on social media: - on Twitter- on Facebook- on Instagram#IWF #SheThinks #AllIssuesAreWomensIssues Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mary Catherine Malley is Director, Assistant General Counsel for Juniper Networks. Her route to this huge role for a global, NYSE listed, multi-billion company following an 11 year career break is the topic of our conversation. A surprising conversation with a neighbor jumpstarted her relaunch, and ended up in a returnship-like role for his company. Mary Catherine details the key role networking played in her relaunch, and how attending our iRelaunch Return to Work Conference twice and the iRelaunch Roadmap helped guide her relaunch. This episode is part of our "Relaunching in Senior Roles" mini-series and is a rebroadcast of a previously aired episode.
In Episode 267, I have the pleasure of convrersing with Ranae Bartlett, who became US Chess Executive Director last month. She started at US Chess in September 2023 as Director of Operations. Before joining US Chess, Ranae was an Assistant General Counsel for a Fortune 5 company. She served as a local school board member in Madison, Alabama for ten years and advocated for chess education and funding chess initiatives in her school system. Ranae founded Madison City Chess League, a non-profit chess organization where she served as Executive Director for ten years and conducted over eighty chess tournaments. In 2020, she became the first Education Director at ChessKid.com, and in 2022 she co-chaired the Chess In Education Committee for US Chess.We speak about her current plans for US Chess, The Nationals, the disparity of gender in chess, fundraising, ratings, Tournament Director certifications, the upcoming Saint Louis Chess Conference, the alabama chess scene, title 1 funds, our 2024 Summer Chess and Table Tennis Camp, pickleball, unrated events, the upcoming Chess in Education webinar How Philanthrophy Supports Chess in Education with our 47th Podcast Guest Dewain Barber, "the Dean of Scholastic Chess", John D. Rockefeller V and US Chess Director of Development Geoff Isaak, and Mark Indermaur, moderator, and more.
Today we welcome Sue Bunnell, Assistant General Counsel & Executive Director at Wells Fargo, and a career catalyst. Sue has been with Wells Fargo for over two decades, serving many different functions. In her current role, she partners with senior business, risk, and compliance leaders. She also oversees the Catalyst Program, which helps high-potential professionals learn and examine their goals in order to achieve the next steps in their careers. Sue is also a frequent speaker who facilitates workshops for a wide range of groups, and she partners one-on-one with professionals, focusing on strong self-advocacy skills. Additionally, Sue is board co-chair at Leading Women in Technology, an organization that helps professional women develop the skills, experience, and approaches necessary to map their own paths to success and achieve their goals. She is also a board member at Professional BusinessWomen of California. In our conversation, Sue talks about the importance of self-advocacy, the qualities of an ideal mentor, the Catalyst Program, and her work in Leading Women in Technology.
“How Did I Get Here?” is a series on the MassBar Beat podcast exploring the path from new lawyer to partner through in-depth interviews with lawyers at law firms, solo practitioners, in-house counsel and government employees about their unique path to a partner-level position. In this episode, host Michael D. Molloy, who is chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association Civil Litigation Section, talks with attorney Liz Dillon about her path to becoming Assistant General Counsel at Simmons University in Boston.
You want to use GenAI at work, but it can be difficult to know when and how to do so safely. As part of our ongoing live Ask An Expert Interview Series on LinkedIn, Chris and Anne have called on two legal experts, Mary Newcomer Williams, Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft, and Michael Brick, Assistant General Counsel US Commercial Industries at Microsoft, to explain how executives can make sure they're using AI to maximize the productivity of their teams and do so responsibly. Chris and Anne go in-depth with Mary and Michael as they discuss the four areas in which retailers and brands can use GenAI responsibly, right now, including: ● eCommerce and Marketing ● Merchandising and Planning ● Stores and Service ● Supply Chain Operations To read any of information discussed during the podcast, head here: - Microsoft's Responsible AI Website | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/responsible-ai - Microsoft's Responsible AI Standards | https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE5cmFl?culture=en-us&country=us - Microsoft's AI Tools and Best Practices | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/tools-practices - Microsoft's Copilot Copyright Commitment | https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2023/09/07/copilot-copyright-commitment-ai-legal-concerns/ - Microsoft's Overview of Responsible AI Practices for Azure OpenAI Models | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/cognitive-services/openai/overview?context=%2Fazure%2Fai-services%2Fopenai%2Fcontext%2Fcontext%20and%20https%3A%2F%2Flearn.microsoft.com%2Fen-us%2Flegal%2Fcognitive-services%2Fopenai%2Ftransparency-note%3Fcontext%3D%2Fazure%2Fai-services%2Fopenai%2Fcontext%2Fcontext&tabs=text%20ReplyDeleteMute - Microsoft's Transparency Note for Azure OpenAI Service | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/cognitive-services/openai/transparency-note?context=%2Fazure%2Fai-services%2Fopenai%2Fcontext%2Fcontext&tabs=text - Walmart Case Study for New Generative AI-Powered Capabilities for Shoppers and Associates | https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/01/09/walmart-unveils-new-generative-ai-powered-capabilities-for-shoppers-and-associates/ Music by hooksounds.com *Sponsored Content*
FREE EBOOK www.legalees.com/tom Attorney Lee R. Phillips is a Counselor of the United States Supreme Court. He has three university degrees and has held licenses in real estate, mortgage brokering, securities, life insurance, and being a registered investment advisor. Lee is nationally recognized in business structure, asset protection, and financial and estate planning. He founded LegaLees Corp., a company specializing in solving asset protection and tax problems for high-net-worth individuals. After graduating, he practiced law as a patent attorney. He spent five years in the dual position of Assistant General Counsel and Associate Director of Research at the nation's largest private university. Author of 19 books, Lee serves on the editorial boards of several professional publications. As one of the nation's most engaging, dynamic speakers, he has given over 3000 event presentations throughout the US, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. He has helped over a million people understand the law and how to use it to make more money and protect their assets.
Did you know that mature entrepreneurs bring a wealth of diverse experiences to the table? In this episode of Figure Eight, Jackie Dinsmore highlights the value of founders with life experience. Her venture capital firm, Extra Innings Ventures, embraces this philosophy by investing in seasoned individuals. Jackie and Julie also discuss how letting go of the helm to become an employee and eventually selling one's ownership requires adaptability and emotional preparedness. Her story provides invaluable lessons on the often-overlooked human side of business transactions.Jackie was a corporate lawyer at Blakes in Toronto, and subsequently worked as Assistant General Counsel at The Toronto Star. Originally intended as a side project to satisfy her non-legal creative side, Jacqueline launched FlapJackKids, a company that focuses on all reversible products for women and children. Jacqueline's products were featured in swag bags for Emmys and Oscars pre-parties, and can be found in thousands of stores in North America and worldwide. She has been named Top Mompreneur by Mompreneur Magazine and appeared in Forbes Magazine alongside Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. Her company was featured numerous times in top press and media including The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Ok Weekly, Us Weekly, Woman's World, USA Today, The Huffington Post and Woman's Day.Jacqueline was also one of the original owners of Caravel Law and since its sale, now acts as its Co-Managing Partner. Caravel Law is a revolutionary law firm of over 100 lawyers that has disrupted the legal services industry in Canada, by making big firm trained and in-house experienced lawyers available as fractional counsel to start-ups, F500 companies and everything in between. Its low overhead model ensures access to great lawyers at a reasonable cost. Jacqueline has had three successful exits and most recently started Extra Innings Ventures, a venture capital firm focusing on under-represented founders with life experience.Jackie's Transition from Law to Serial Entrepreneurship (00:01:24) Jackie's journey of practicing law before founding and exiting multiple companies, including her current venture capital firm.Challenges of Exits, New Partnerships, and Extra Innings Ventures (00:12:37) The emotional and strategic challenges of exiting businesses and finding the right partners for future ventures, including her venture capital firm focused on investing in underrepresented founders.Lessons from Product-Based Business (00:20:36) Reflections on mistakes made, managing inventory, and staying relevant in the fashion industry.Building a Founding Team (00:24:29) Lessons learned from building a founding team, scaling up, and managing people.Continuous Learning and Community (00:29:55) The importance of continuous adapting and surrounding oneself with a supportive community in entrepreneurship.More about Jackie: www.caravellaw.comwww.extrainningsventures.comConnect with Julie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-ellis/Connect with Julie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejulieellis/Read Julie's blog: https://www.julieellis.ca/blogOrder Big Gorgeous Goals: https://www.julieellis.ca/bookWhat did you think of this conversation? We'd love if you'd rate or review our show!
We're taking a look back on Season 1.And in this replay episode, Alan Gibson, Assistant General Counsel of Compliance and Ethics for Microsoft, joins hosts Adam Kaiser and Jordan Feise.Alan's career began in business, where he started and ran an international sales company before pursuing a law degree. After joining Microsoft, he found himself developing and implementing a program to analyze compliance data, despite having no experience in data or analytics.As the conversation unfolds, you'll hear how Alan tackled this unexpected challenge and how the digital transformation can give you a comprehensive view of your compliance risk.In this episode, you'll learn:How to start smallThe importance of an in-depth understanding of the problem you are trying to manageWhy speaking the language of ‘business' impacts success
Andrew Arthur is Resident Fellow in Law and Policy for the Center for Immigration Studies. He began his legal career through the Attorney General's Honors Program as a clerk to an Administrative Law Judge in the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer at the United States Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review. Later in his career he was promoted to the Immigration and Naturalization Service General Counsel's Office in D.C., first as an Associate General Counsel, then as an Assistant General Counsel and Acting Chief of the INS National Security Law Division.--Crosstalk continues to monitor progress on our nation's southern border because many believe this to be a national security issue. One state, however, decided to take action. The governor of Texas made great efforts to secure his state but is being thwarted and fought against by the Biden administration. Speaking of the President, he curtailed many of the Trump policies which brought much broader protection to the U.S. He seeks to blame the previous administration and Congress as a source for failing to take action on what he describes as meaningful border control legislation. So what about the Senate-- Just yesterday they released their border bill. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson described it as -dead on arrival.---Just how bad is the situation-- FBI Director Christopher Wray has indicated that the number of illegal immigrants evading border patrol agents and escaping into our nation is a source of -great concern for the FBI.- Andrew noted that in December, Customs and Border Protection encountered about 300,000 people entering the U.S.
Andrew Arthur is Resident Fellow in Law and Policy for the Center for Immigration Studies. He began his legal career through the Attorney General's Honors Program as a clerk to an Administrative Law Judge in the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer at the United States Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review. Later in his career he was promoted to the Immigration and Naturalization Service General Counsel's Office in D.C., first as an Associate General Counsel, then as an Assistant General Counsel and Acting Chief of the INS National Security Law Division.--Crosstalk continues to monitor progress on our nation's southern border because many believe this to be a national security issue. One state, however, decided to take action. The governor of Texas made great efforts to secure his state but is being thwarted and fought against by the Biden administration. Speaking of the President, he curtailed many of the Trump policies which brought much broader protection to the U.S. He seeks to blame the previous administration and Congress as a source for failing to take action on what he describes as meaningful border control legislation. So what about the Senate-- Just yesterday they released their border bill. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson described it as -dead on arrival.---Just how bad is the situation-- FBI Director Christopher Wray has indicated that the number of illegal immigrants evading border patrol agents and escaping into our nation is a source of -great concern for the FBI.- Andrew noted that in December, Customs and Border Protection encountered about 300,000 people entering the U.S.
Join us in a captivating conversation with Attorney Walter Anthony Jean-Jacques as we explore his life journey, education, and current role at the National Urban League. We discuss vital topics, from the power of voting to the enduring impact of the civil rights movement, all delivered with a 'by any means necessary' approach."More about Walter:Walter Anthony Jean-Jacques is the Assistant General Counsel of the National Urban League. Mr. Jean-Jacques is a former Litigation Fellow at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. in Washington, D.C. where he focused on racial justice litigation. Additionally, he is a former judicial law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Mr. Jean-Jacques is a recipient of the Equal Justice America and National Lawyers Guild Haywood Burns Fellowships. He worked at the Southern Poverty Law Center, Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. during law school. During the summers of 2011 and 2012, Mr. Jean-Jacques served as an Affiliate Servives Intern for the National Urban League. He is a former Board Member on the Board of Directors for Equal Justice Works, where he served from January 2019 to December 2021. In addition, he served on the National Advisory Committee of Equal Justice Works representing the Midwest region from July 2018 to June 2020. Currently, he serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights at the University of Notre Dame.Tap in with Walter:@WalterJeanJacq on XWelcome to the ScholarChip$ podcast hosted by Larry Alexander and Tone Gaines. Larry is a transactional attorney at a Fortune 500 Company. Tone is a Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions attorney at a large law firm in Chicago. But more importantly, both Larry and Tone are Black Men from the inner city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The duo started ScholarChip$ to (1) create a platform to have candid conversations with scholars and (2) normalize academics as a viable way to achieve upward mobility in Black and Brown communities.Discussions in this podcast are for general information and entertainment purposes only. Nothing contained in this podcast constitutes financial, legal, tax or any other professional advice. Always consult a professional regarding your individual circumstance. NOR DOES IT CONSTITUTE AN ENDORSEMENT OF ANY INDIVIDUAL GUEST. ALWAYS DO YOUR DILIGENCE.
Members of the K&L Gates Hydrogen, Power, Tax, and Tax Policy teams speak with Sandi Safro Osborn, Assistant General Counsel of the Edison Electric Institute, about the proposed regulations the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service released on 22 December 2023 concerning the Inflation Reduction Act's new Section 45V hydrogen production tax credit. The discussion covers details of the new rules and considers their potential impacts on the eligibility of hydrogen facilities to claim the credit. This episode of Hydrogen Rising is an edited audio version of a webinar hosted on 10 January 2023. Click here for the original webinar recording which includes presentation slides.
Michael J. O'Neill serves as Assistant General Counsel and the Barbara K. Olson Legal Counsel at Landmark Legal Foundation. Landmark Files Brief Urging Michigan Court of Appeals to Reject Arguments that Federal Candidates Can be Found in Violation of the 14th Amendment in State Court
Women, Influence & Power in Law (WIPL) offers an opportunity for unprecedented exchange with women in-house and outside counsel. This unique event gatherers 700+ female speakers and attendees to share their thoughts on hard-won leadership guidance and insights on risk management, the future of litigation, crafting an ESG strategy and the ever-changing role of legal leaders. This year the conference was held in New Orleans and Legal Speak was there. In this episode, Alaina Lancaster is joined by Christina Liwski, the Assistant General Counsel at Nexus Pharmaceuticals.
Kasmira Cryer is someone who saw first-hand the devisivness media can create. Instead of staying in the problem she is committing herself to elevate media and social influence to unite the world! Tara Trantham is a lawyer determined to use her story to create better systems for victims of family violence and mental health issues. This dynamic duo are not only inspiring, they are creating a positive way forward, promoting love and acceptance for all. Follow them both on social media to keep up with their latest projects.Amanda Kazzy Cryer is a Filmmaker, Social Impact Influencer, Consultant and Strategist. She is committed to elevating voices through social media, film and traditional media, and is passionate about media-driven projects that bring awareness to social issues. Having lived and worked in both developed and developing countries, she has been active in co-creating opportunities to solve problems, shift systems, and activate the inner capacity of leaders to create lasting change. As a social impact influencer and consultant, Amanda has coached and worked with hundreds of people from all different backgrounds including influencers, leading change makers and emerging changemakers in media, celebrities, community activists, leaders at the United Nations, scientists, philosophers, thought-leaders, TV and Film personalities, Nobel Prize recipients, CEOs, actors, and founders of nonprofits and triple bottom line organizations. Since 2009, Amanda has been practicing the Conscious Full Spectrum Response framework developed by her mentor Dr. Monica Sharma (former Director of Leadership and Capacity Development at the United Nations) in systems shift language and transformative dialogue in media. The CFSR is a unique response model based on extensive application, which simultaneously in time solves problems, illuminates and shifts systems and creates new patterns sourced from individual inner capacity and transformational leadership. This particular model has generated sustainable results worldwide. Amanda was the Project Director for United Global Shift, a non profit that delivers workshops for people engaged in initiatives that make a difference. UGS coaches people on projects that both empower individuals and shift the systems that perpetuate chronic issues such as poverty, discrimination, environmental degradation and war. United Global Shift works with leaders and emerging leaders who want to be at the forefront of positive change. UGS mission statement: We are causing a united global shift in what is possible for humanity, focusing on the environment, entrepreneurship, health and education. A shift from survival and scarcity to possibility and peace. Amanda coached emerging leaders in project management and strategic planning that addressed systemic issues.As a filmmaker, Amanda's productions have included What They Wanted, What They Got, which sold to Showtime; and the multiple award winning, Luz: The Flower of Evil. From 2009 to 2012, she worked with a cohort of Native American actors, including alumni of the Twilight film series, to bring awareness to the water infrastructure issues negatively impacting Indigenous communities across the country. She also worked at Roy Lee's production company Vertigo Entertainment (Doctor Sleep, It, The Departed, The Lego Movie) and served as a producer on the award-winning short film The Lord of Catan starring Fran Kranz (The Cabin in The Woods,Mass) and Amy Acker (Person of Interest, Angel). She co-founded Do Good Media and 1 Voice World, production companies involved in the development and co-creation of media driven projects that look at what's possible when we overcome polarization and move towards unity. Amanda's latest film, Inside Men, highlights personal stories from people whom the prison system has affected in one way or another, the injustices of the prison industrial complex repudiating governmental structures, and private industries that view prisons as a solution to their bottom lines and societal challenges.She is a conscious activist for ethical eating, prison reform, mental health, addiction, human trafficking and people experiencing homelessness and poverty.Tara received her B.A. degree in Political Science with a minor in Religious Studies from The University of North Carolina in 1995 where she was involved in various campus organizations. She went on to receive her J.D. degree from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, where she was ranked in the Top 15% of her class, on the Dean's List and received the Dean's Grant Scholarship. She studied International Comparative Law in Norway, was a Student Advisor and a member of Moot Court Health Law Competition Team along with other campus organizations.Tara began her career at AGFA Corporation, Healthcare Division, as an Assistant General Counsel in August 2001. In August 2005, she accepted a position as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel with Sherman Financial Group, LLC/Resurgent Capital Services, LLP. She was Assistant Secretary and Assistant General Counsel at Security Finance Corporation of Spartanburg from 2009 to 2012. Tara became the Senior Vice President, Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel of World Acceptance Corporation in 2013 to 2018. Tara served as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Secretary and General Counsel for Heights Finance from 2018 to 2021.Tara was appointed General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer for Omni Financial until December 2021.In February of 2022, Tara founded her own fractional general counsel company, Rise Legal Team.Tara is an experienced, detail oriented corporate lawyer with excellent litigation and management skills and is a driven team leader. Having over 23 years of experience, Tara is an expert in the financial services industry and specializes in regulatory compliance and risk management, SEC reporting, mergers and acquisitions and licensing issues. Her expertise led to handling the seminal CID from the CFPB in the installment loan industry resulting in a no finding.She is a member of the Georgia Bar, the American Bar Association, and has served on the Board of Directors for American Financial Services Association, Served on the Law Committee with American Financial Services Association (AFSA). Served as Chair of the State and Government Affairs Committee with AFSA. Tara has been very active in her local community as well, serving on the Board of Safe Harbor, the Board of the Greenville Symphony, was a member of the class of 35 Leadership Greenville, Furman Diversity and Inclusion Program, Greenville Professional Women's Forum, Member of Female Leaders of the Upstate, and spends much of her time volunteering at local organizations.Tara is married to her husband Jonathan and has one son Christian. She treasures time with her family and loves to watch her son play football. Tara has completed her first book, entitled, “Take Off that Mask, Life Ain't No Masquerade Ball”, detailing her personal journey from a failed suicide attempt to thriving and living with joy, love and kindness.Tara Trantham | LinkedInAmanda "Kazzy" Cryer | LinkedIn
In this episode of the Road to Growth podcast, we are pleased to introduce you to Attorney Lee R. Phillips. Attorney Lee R. Phillips is a Counselor of the United States Supreme Court. He has three university degrees and has held licenses in real estate, mortgage brokering, securities, and life insurance, as well as being a registered investment advisor. Lee is nationally recognized in the fields of business structure, asset protection, financial planning and estate planning. He is the founder of LegaLees Corp., a company specializing in solving asset protection and tax problems for high net worth individuals. After graduating, he practiced law as a patent attorney. He spent 5 years in the dual position of Assistant General Counsel and Associate Director of Research at the nation's largest private university. Author of 19 books, Lee serves on the editorial boards of several professional publications. At age 27, Lee spent 5 months in a university hospital ICU, and watched the legal system take everything he and his young family had. He understands first hand the importance of asset protection, and he wants to help others avoid personal disasters. As one of the nation's most engaging, dynamic speakers, he has given over 3000 event presentations throughout the US, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. He has helped over a million people understand the law and how to use it to make more money and protect their assets. Learn more and connect with Attorney Lee R. Phillips by visiting him on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/LegaLeesINC/ Twitter : https://twitter.com/legaLees Youtube : https://www.youtube.com/LeeRPhillips Website: https://legalees.com/ Be sure to follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/to_growth on Facebook: facebook.com/Road2Growth Subscribe to our podcast across the web: https://www.theenriquezgroup.com/blog Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2Cdmacc iTunes: https://apple.co/2F4zAcn Castbox: http://bit.ly/2F4NfQq Google Play: http://bit.ly/2TxUYQ2 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKnzMRkl-PurAb32mCLCMeA?view_as=subscriber If you are looking to be a Guest on Podcasts please click below https://kitcaster.com/rtg/ For any San Diego Real Estate Questions Please Follow Us at web: www.TheEnriquezGroup.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKnzMRkl-PurAb32mCLCMeA or Call : 858 -345 - 7829 Recently reduced properties in San Diego County * Click **** bit.ly/3cbT65C **** Here* ****************************************************************************
The great Jack Chen stops by to share his sight loss story and how a simple podcast episode with Dan Berlin turned into a documentary film and bold social action campaign to fundamentally alter the way that employers think about talent in the blind community. Both blind, Jack and Dan knew that their positions as Assistant General Counsel for Facebook and CEO of a large food company were not aberrations. They set out to prove to the world that people who are blind could be successful both on and off the bike, in the saddle and in the boardroom. The gripping documentary film, Surpassing Sight, parallels their journey of building a team to tackle the toughest cycling race in the world, RAAM (Race Across America), with their equally grueling journey through the employment world. GET YOUR #DONTWAIT MUG! :: https://amblind.creator-spring.com/listing/destiny-dont-wait-black?product=1565 :: PODCAST LINKS :: For show notes, guest profiles, photos, blog and more information, visit AmbiguouslyBlind.com and connect on: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin Like what we're doing? Support us: Buy Me A Coffee This is a listener supported podcast. Please consider donating to build and sustain our community :: EPISODE LINKS :: Jack's Guest Profile :: https://www.ambiguouslyblind.com/guests/jack-chen/ Jack's Podcast ExcelAbility :: https://teamexcelability.com/ Surpassing Sight Movie :: https://surpassingsightmovie.com/ ::
Anne Marie DeCatsye, Esq., CEO of Canopy Realtor® Association/Canopy MLS, is back as guest host in this podcast conversation with Michele McCaskill, VP of Risk Management and Assistant General Counsel, about Why Professional Standards and the Code of Ethics are important to the profession and the consumer. Hear more about how the Risk Management team keeps an eye on general risk management issues affecting the industry, and why raising the bar on professionalism is imperative to the industry.
Jonathan Alexandre is an attorney and Senior Counsel for Governmental Affairs for Liberty Counsel. Liberty Counsel is an international nonprofit, litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life, and the family. In this capacity Jonathan consults with and advises law and policy makers at the federal, state, and local levels across the nation. Jonathan was formerly the Assistant General Counsel and Public Policy Coordinator for the Massachusetts Family Institute in Boston. Alexandre developed the Massachusetts Attorney Resource Council, a network of pro-family Massachusetts attorneys. Jonathan previously worked for The Jerusalem Center of Public Affairs in Jerusalem, Israel, and the United States Army's Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School.Visit Liberty Counsel's Website: https://lc.org/SUPPORT OUR WORK https://www.judicialwatch.org/donate/thank-youtube/ VISIT OUR WEBSITE http://www.judicialwatch.org
Shaun fights the abuses of power! Michael O'Neill, Assistant General Counsel at Landmark Legal Foundation, talks to Shaun about the left taking advantage of our voting system during Covid - and the outcome it is having on our civil liberities! PLUS, Luis Valdes, Florida State Director of Gun Owners of America, discusses the dangers of red flag laws and how our DOJ is weaponizing them against us.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Attorney Lee R. Phillips is a Counselor of the United States Supreme Court. He has three university degrees and has held licenses in real estate, mortgage brokering, securities, and life insurance, as well as being a registered investment advisor. Lee is nationally recognized in the fields of business structure, asset protection, financial planning and estate planning. He is the founder of LegaLees Corp., a company specializing in solving asset protection and tax problems for high net worth individuals. After graduating, he practiced law as a patent attorney. He spent 5 years in the dual position of Assistant General Counsel and Associate Director of Research at the nation's largest private university. Author of 19 books, Lee serves on the editorial boards of several professional publications. At age 27, Lee spent 5 months in a university hospital ICU, and watched the legal system take everything he and his young family had. He understands first hand the importance of asset protection, and he wants to help others avoid personal disasters.As one of the nation's most engaging, dynamic speakers, he has given over 3000 event presentations throughout the US, Canada, and the Pacific Rim. He has helped over a million people understand the law and how to use it to make more money and protect their assets.
How do we navigate parenting while working? In this episode, our hosts discuss the challenges and experiences of being working parents by focusing on workplace policies and the transition of taking parental leave and returning to work. They discuss the policies that were available to them during their parental leave and the support they received from their respective workplaces. Additionally, they highlight the pivotal role that legislation, such as the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections Act (the PUMP Act), and the Nursing Mothers Act has had in improving accommodations for all parents. They do so by highlighting the significance that the culture of a workplace has in portraying a corporate company's initiative and commitment to upholding these policies. Join us for an engaging discussion that reminds us of the role that we play in creating a supportive environment for new and expecting parents and the steps that we can take to create an inclusive workspace.We hope you tune in to every episode this season and send us any topic ideas you are interested in hearing more about. Our Hosts this Week:Nakimuli Davis-Primer, Shareholder at Baker DonelsonAaliyah Locke, Associate at Baker DonelsonSpecial Guest:Shayla Fletcher, Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, Regions Bank, Legal DepartmentDo you have a topic or idea that you would like to hear more about? Send us an email!
Tara Trantham is the Founder and CEO of Rise Legal Team, LLC. Her story of triumph over tragedy is featured on our Youturn Health platform. Tara uses her experience to help the voiceless and is not afraid to tell the hard parts of her mental health crisis. We had her back on the podcast to tell us about her new book and how she continues to expand her tireless efforts to help those hurt by the legal system. Tara received her B.A. degree in Political Science with a minor in Religious Studies from The University of North Carolina in 1995 where she was involved in various campus organizations. She went on to receive her J.D. degree from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois, where she was ranked in the Top 15% of her class, on the Dean's List and received the Dean's Grant Scholarship. She studied International Comparative Law in Norway, was a Student Advisor, and was a member of the Moot Court Health Law Competition Team along with other campus organizations. Tara began her career at AGFA Corporation, Healthcare Division, as an Assistant General Counsel in August 2001. In August 2005, she accepted a position as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel with Sherman Financial Group, LLC/Resurgent Capital Services, LLP. She was Assistant Secretary and Assistant General Counsel at the Security Finance Corporation of Spartanburg from 2009 to 2012. Tara became the Senior Vice President, Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer, and General Counsel of World Acceptance Corporation from 2013 to 2018. Tara served as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Secretary, and General Counsel for Heights Finance from 2018 to 2021. Tara was appointed General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer for Omni Financial until December 2021. In February 2022, Tara founded her own fractional general counsel company, Rise Legal Team. Tara is an experienced, detail-oriented corporate lawyer with excellent litigation and management skills and is a driven team leader. Having over 23 years of experience, Tara is an expert in the financial services industry and specializes in regulatory compliance and risk management, SEC reporting, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing issues. Her expertise led to handling the seminal CID from the CFPB in the installment loan industry resulting in a no-finding. She is a member of the Georgia Bar, and the American Bar Association, and has served on the Board of Directors for American Financial Services Association, Served on the Law Committee with American Financial Services Association (AFSA). Served as Chair of the State and Government Affairs Committee with AFSA. Tara has been very active in her local community as well, serving on the Board of Safe Harbor, the Board of the Greenville Symphony, was a member of the class of 35 Leadership Greenville, Furman Diversity and Inclusion Program, Greenville Professional Women's Forum, Member of Female Leaders of the Upstate, and spends much of her time volunteering at local organizations. Tara is married to her husband Jonathan and has one son Christian. She treasures time with her family and loves to watch her son play football. Tara has completed her first book, entitled, “Take Off That Mask, Life Ain't No Masquerade Ball”, detailing her personal journey from a failed suicide attempt to thriving and living with joy, love, and kindness- release date TBD.
In this episode, we chat with AP Capaldo de Aoun. AP serves as Assistant General Counsel at TD SYNNEX, one of the world's largest distributors of technology products, services, and solutions. Previously, AP served as Director of Ethics & Compliance for Tech Data, and Associate General Counsel of Global Ethics & Compliance at Laureate Education, a leading higher education provider with more than 70 universities in 25 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.AP is responsible for legal support of the Americas region, including corporate transactional matters, litigation, and operations. Additionally, AP focuses her work on counseling the business on a variety of topics related to labor, employment, internal investigations, and regulatory matters. Previously she was lead counsel for the company's Latin America region and the export division and the company's global IP portfolio.AP received her law degree from the University of Notre Dame Law School and completed her undergraduate studies in English Literature at Florida International University. AP is a Supreme Court of Indiana CLEO Fellow, and served as Secretary of the Hispanic Law Students Association and Academic Chair of the Black Law Students Association at Notre Dame. She was a visiting scholar at the University of Bocconi School Of Law in Milan, Italy and worked at the St. Joseph County's Public Defender's Office in South Bend, Indiana. In the community, she has served as Legal Guardian at Miami Cerebral Palsy and volunteered with His House Children's Home. AP calls Parkland, FL home with her husband and two young children.Enjoy!Article on APFind her on LinkedInBook Recommendation: Cribsheet by Emily Oster
The Democrat mafia is destroying our country. Shaun pays respect to another fallen Chicago Police Officer. Assistant General Counsel at the Landmark Legal Foundation Michael O'Neill is tired of the uneven playing field when it comes to special interest groups paying taxes! He tells Shaun what the rules are, who is playing by them and who isn't when it comes to paying taxes on political contributions. PLUS, EJ Antoni is back for a economic Monday round-up - he talks to Shaun about Janet Yellen, defaulting on the debt and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
FTX, at one point the world's third largest cryptocurrency exchange, went bankrupt, causing the entire cryptocurrency industry to crash. In this episode, hear highlights from Congressional testimony that will explain how FTX was able to grow so large while committing blatant fraud, how it's possible that the government didn't know and didn't do anything to stop it, and hear about a Senate bill that's branded as a solution but has concerning flaws of it's own. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! View the show notes on our website at https://congressionaldish.com/cd265-policing-ftx Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD264: Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain CD235: The Safe Haven of Sanctions Evaders What is FTX? “What is FTX?” Timothy Smith. Dec 22, 2022. Investopedia. Crypto Regulation “U.S. Senate Is Still Confused About How to Regulate Crypto After FTX Collapse.” Kyle Barr. Dec 1, 2022. Gizmodo. “Congressmembers Tried to Stop the SEC's Inquiry Into FTX.” David Dayen. Nov 23, 2022. The American Prospect. “We Already Have Laws to Stop Crypto Fraud.” David Dayen. Nov 17, 2022. The American Prospect. “Why Is Congress Still Writing Crypto Regulations?” David Dayen. Nov 10, 2022. The American Prospect. “Letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler Regarding Cryptocurrency Inquiries.” Tom Emmer et al. Mar 16, 2022. “Letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler Regarding Cryptocurrency Inquiries.” emmer.house.gov. Lead-up to FTX Collapse “In about-face, Crypto exchange Binance pulls out of FTX acquisition.” Elizabeth Napolitano. Nov 9, 2022. NBC News. "Crypto exchange FTX saw $6 bln in withdrawals in 72 hours." Tom Wilson and Angus Berwick. Nov 8, 2022. Reuters. “Crypto exchange FTX saw $6 bln in withdrawals in 72 hours.” Tracy Wang and Oliver Knight. Nov 6, 2022. “Binance to Sell Rest of FTX Token Holdings as Alameda CEO Defends Firm's Financial Condition.” Tracy Wang and Oliver Knight. Nov 6, 2022. CoinDesk. “Divisions in Sam Bankman-Fried's Crypto Empire Blur on His Trading Titan Alameda's Balance Sheet.” Ian Allison. Nov 2, 2022. CoinDesk. “Re: Potential Violations of Section 18(a)(4) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act.” Seth. P Rosebrock, Assistant General Counsel, Enforcement, FDIC. Aug 18, 2022. FDIC. Tom Emmer “SEC Chair Gary Gensler Must Testify Before Congress, Says Rep. Tom Emmer.” André Beganski. Dec 11, 2022. Decrypt. “Meet Tom Emmer, a powerful crypto advocate in a crypto-wary Congress.” Tony Romm. Dec 8, 2022. The Washington Post. “House GOP picks Emmer as GOP whip, Scalise as leader.” Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell. Nov 15, 2022. The Hill. FTX Collapse “FTX Effort to Save Itself Failed on Questionable Assets.” Shane Shifflett, Rob Barry, and Coulter Jones. Dec 5, 2022. The Wall Street Journal. “FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Says He Can't Account for Billions Sent to Alameda.” Alexander Osipovich. Dec 3, 2022. The Wall Street Journal. “5 major revelations about the collapse of crypto giant FTX.” David Gura. Nov 23, 2022. NPR. “FTX says it owes more than $3 billion to creditors.” Steven Zeitchik. Nov 20, 2022. The Washington Post. “Declaration of John J. Ray III in Support of Chapter 11 Petitions and First Day Pleadings” [Case 22-11068-JTD] Nov 17, 2022. PACER. “Exclusive: At least $1 billion of client funds missing at failed crypto firm FTX.” Angus Berwick. Nov 11, 2022. Reuters. “FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried resigns as firm files for bankruptcy.” Jacob Bogage and Tory Newmyer. Nov 11, 2022. The Washington Post. “FTX Tapped Into Customer Accounts to Fund Risky Bets, Setting Up Its Downfall.” Vicky Ge Huang, Alexander Osipovich, and Patricia Kowsmann. Nov 11, 2022. The Wall Street Journal. Lobbying and Campaign Donations “Lawmakers who benefited from FTX cash probe its collapse.” Tory Newmyer and Steven Zeitchik. Dec 1, 2022. The Washington Post. “Inside Sam Bankman-Fried's courtship of a Washington regulator.” Tory Newmyer and Peter Whoriskey. Nov 28, 2022. The Washington Post. “Congress took millions from FTX. Now lawmakers face a crypto reckoning.” Tony Romm. Nov 17, 2022. The Washington Post. “FTX Collapse Sets Back Crypto Agenda in Washington.” Paul Kiernan. Nov 14, 2022. The Wall Street Journal. “Washington lobbyists sever ties with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried after crypto exchange implodes.” Brian Schwartz. Nov 14, 2022. CNBC. “Sam Bankman-Fried charmed Washington. Then his crypto empire imploded.” Tory Newmyer. Nov 12, 2022. The Washington Post. “Meet the mega-donors pumping millions into the 2022 midterms.” Luis Melgar et al. Oct 24, 2022. The Washington Post. “A young crypto billionaire's political agenda goes well beyond pandemic preparedness.” Freddy Brewster. Aug 12, 2022. Los Angeles Times. Aftermath of the FTX Collapse “Factbox: Global regulatory actions against FTX.” Dec 12, 2022. Reuters. “FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Is Said to Face Market Manipulation Inquiry.” Emily Flitter, David Yaffe-Bellany and Matthew Goldstein. Dec 7, 2022. The New York Times. “Clashes Over FTX Bankruptcy Go Global.” Alexander Osipovich, Alexander Saeedy and Alexander Gladstone. Dec 4, 2022. “Hot Wallets vs. Cold Wallets.” Mar 10, 2022. Cryptopedia. December 13 Hearing “Memorandum To: Members, Committee on Financial Services From: FSC Majority Staff Subject: December 13, 2022, Full Committee Hearing entitled, “Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I.” Dec 8, 2022. House Financial Services Committee. “Chart: Four Silos for Recover Purposes.” House Financial Services Committee. Sam Bankman-Fried Indictment “Here is the criminal indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried.” Dec 13, 2022. The New York Times. Bills S.4760 - Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act of 2022 Audio Sources Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Part I December 13, 2022 House Committee on Financial Services Witness: John J. Ray III, CEO, FTX Group Clip Transcripts Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO): Have you read the full testimony that was planned by our missing guest [Sam Bankman-Fried]? John Ray I have not read his full testimony. Some pieces of it been relayed to me, but I've not read it. I've not read one word of it actually. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO): Yeah, I don't know him personally and probably don't want to. But this testimony is so disrespectful. I mean, there's not a person up here would like to show this to their children. In line two of this message, he says, and I quote, "I would like to start out by firmly stating under oath...* And yeah, I can't even say it publicly. The next two words, absolutely insulting. This is the Congress of the United States. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): So when when customers deposited funds into their FTX accounts, where did the cash go? John Ray: Well, sometimes the money wasn't deposited in the FTX account it was sent to Alameda to begin with. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH): It was misdirected from from the start straight to Alameda. John Ray: There was certainly some time period where there's no bank account at .com and then ultimately, if you look at the structure of this, Alameda is essentially a customer on that .com exchange, and effectively, you know, borrowed money from or just transferred money from FTX customers to take its own positions on the Alameda hedge fund. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): So Alameda research and the venture capital business, what did Alameda research do? John Ray: Essentially made crypto investments, engaged in margin trading, took long and short positions in crypto, essentially invested in crypto. But of course, we now know also invested in over $5 billion of other assets which are in a variety of sectors. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): Can you describe the differences between the FTX.com and FTX.us silos? John Ray: Yes. Very simply FTX.us was for US citizens who wanted to trade crypto; FTX.com, US citizens were not allowed to trade on that exchange. That's very simple. And I would make one other comment, which is separate apart from any of those two silos. It was ledger x, which is a regulated entity regulated by the CFTC, solvent and separate from the FTX.us silo. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): Okay, and that is a distinct silo, that's a distinct company? John Ray: That is a distinct company within the US silo, yes. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): Okay. Patrick McHenry (R-NC):: What was the relationship between FTX.com and FTX.us? Was is there a distinction between the two? John Ray: There was a public distinction between the two. What we're seeing now is that the crypto assets for both ftx.com and for FTX.us were housed in the same database. It's called the AWS system, which is just an acronym for Amazon Web Services. It was all housed in the same web format. Patrick McHenry (R-NC):: And is that distinct from Alameda's assets? John Ray: Yes, it is. John Ray: In essence you know, Alameda was a user, effectively a customer, of FTX.com. That's how it was essentially structured. John Ray: There was no audit at Alameda, no audit at the venture silo. There was audit at the US silo and also audit at the the .com silo. I can't speak to the integrity or quality of those audits. We're reviewing, obviously, the books and records. And as I've said earlier, you know, much of those books and records were maintained on a fairly unsophisticated ledger ledger which works workbooks. John Ray: It's an extensive list, it really crosses the entire spectrum of the company, from lack of lists of bank accounts, hundreds of bank accounts dispersed all over the world, lack of a complete list of employees and their functions by group or name, extensive use of independent contractors as opposed to employees, lack of insurance that you'd normally would see in certain businesses, either inadequate insurance or complete gaps in insurance. For example, the Alameda silo had no insurance whatsoever. So those are I mean, there's, the list goes on and on. You know, we could spend all day on them. John Ray: While many things are unknown at this stage, we're at a very preliminary stage, many questions remain, we know the following. First customer assets at ftx.com were commingled with assets from the Alameda trading platform. That much is clear. Second, Alameda used client funds to engage in margin trading, which exposed customer funds to massive losses. Third, the FTX group went on a spending binge in 2021 and 2022, during which $5 billion was spent on a myriad of businesses and investments, many of which may only be worth a fraction of what was paid for them. Fourth, loans and other payments were made to insiders in excess of $1.5 billion. Fifth, Alameda's business model as a market maker required funds to be deployed to various third party exchanges, which were inherently unsafe and further exacerbated by the limited protections offered in certain of those foreign jurisdictions. John Ray: I accepted the position of Chief Executive Officer of FTX in the early morning hours of November 11 [2022]. It immediately became clear to me that chapter 11 was the best course available to preserve any remaining value of FTX. Therefore, my first act as CEO was authorized the chapter 11 filings. John Ray: It's virtually unlimited in terms of the lack of controls: no centralized records on banking, no daily reconciliations of crypto assets, silos where there's no insurance, inadequate insurance, no independent board, no safeguards that limit, who controls and asset. So senior management literally could get access to any of the accounts in any of the silos. No separateness between customer money and other customer money or other other assets. It's virtually unlimited in terms of the lack of controls. And that's really the point of the unprecedent comment. I've just never seen anything like it in 40 years of doing restructuring work and corporate corporate legal work. It's just a dearth of of information. John Ray: But again, users had multiple accounts. For example, if they had a different trading position, they may have opened multiple accounts. We know it's a big number. It's in the millions on the customer accounts, and we know it's several billion dollars in losses. Assigning those losses to customer accounts will be our next challenge. John Ray: The FTX group's collapse appears to stem from absolute concentration of control in the hands of a small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who failed to implement virtually any of the systems or controls that are necessary for a company entrusted with other people's money or assets. Some of the unacceptable management practices identified so far include the use of computer infrastructure that gave individuals and senior management access to systems that stored customers' assets without security controls to prevent them from redirecting those assets; the storing of certain private keys to access hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto assets without effective security controls or encryption; the ability of Alameda to borrow funds held at FTX.com to be utilized for its own trading or investments without any effective limits whatsoever; the commingling of assets; the lack of complete documentation for transactions involving nearly 500 separate investments made with FTX group funds and assets. In the absence of audited or reliable financial statements, the lack of personnel and financial and risk management functions, and the absence of independent governance throughout the FTX group, a fundamental challenge we face is there in many respects we are starting from near zero in terms of the corporate infrastructure and record keeping that one would expect in a multibillion dollar corporation. John Ray: The FTX group is unusual in the sense that, you know, I've done probably a dozen large scale bankruptcies over my career, including Enron, of course. Every one of those entities had some financial problem or another, they have some characteristics that are in common. This one is unusual. And it's unusual in the sense that literally, you know, there's no record keeping whatsoever. It's the absence of record keeping. Employees would communicate, you know, invoicing and expenses on on Slack, which is essentially a way of communicating for chat rooms. They use QuickBooks, a multibillion dollar company using QuickBooks. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO): QuickBooks? John Ray: QuickBooks. Nothing against QuickBooks, it's very nice tool, just not for a multibillion dollar company. There's no independent board, right? We had one person really controlling this. No independent board. That's highly unusual in the size company this is. And it's made all the more complex because we're not dealing with, you know, widgets or, you know, something that's tangible. We're dealing with with with crypto, and the technological issues are made worse when you're dealing with an asset such as crypto. John Ray: I've just never seen an utter lack of record keeping. Absolutely no internal controls whatsoever. John Ray: The operation of Alameda really depended based on the way it was operated for the use of customer funds. That's the major breakdown here of funds from ftx.com, which was the exchange for non US citizens, those funds were used at Alameda to make investments and other disbursements. John Ray: There's no distinction whatsoever. The owners of the company could really run free reign across all four silos. John Ray: The loans that were given to Mr. Bankman-Fried, not just one loan it was numerous loans, some of which were documented by individual promissory notes. There's no description of what the purpose of the loan was. In one instance, he signed both as the issuer of the loan, as well as the recipient of the loan. But we have no information at this time as to what the purpose or the use of those funds were. And that is part of our investigation. John Ray: At the end of the day, we're not going to be able to recover all the losses here. Money was spent that we'll never get back. There will be losses on the international side. We're hopeful on the US side. He'll answer to others related to what happened here. Our job is just to find the assets and try to get customers their money back as quickly as possible. John Ray: Essentially, they had two exchanges that allowed users to trade crypto, and then there was the hedge fund. It's as simple as that. The users were allowed to make a variety of investments. They had a more expansive ability to trade crypto if you are a non-U.S. citizen on the .com exchange, but I know what's been described publicly is very complex. It is to some extent, but essentially, you had two exchanges, and you had a hedge fund. Inside both the US silos I've mentioned and inside the silos for .com there were regulated entities. We have regulated entities that are, for example, in Japan that are solvent, we had a regulated entity, ledger X, that was solvent. Those are sort of distinct from the other basic operations that we had, which are the two exchanges. John Ray: The principal issue that the company is facing in the crypto area, and from a technology perspective, it is different from the other bankruptcies because it's not a plane, not a boat. It's this crypto asset and it has inherently some difficulties. You know, the assets can be taken or lost. We have assets there in what are called Hot wallets, and those are in cold wallets. Hot wallets are very vulnerable to to hacking. If you've done any looking on the internet, you'll find that hacking is almost ordinary course in this business sector. They're very, lots of vulnerability to the wallets. So that's this company, unfortunately had a very, very challenging record here. You know, for some transfers there was no pathway for it. Our keys aren't stored in a centralized location. We don't know where all of our wallets are. Passwords were sometimes kept in just plain text format. So this company was sort of uniquely positioned to fail. John Ray: So funds were taken from customers, funds were invested, trading losses incurred in Alameda and then funds were deployed, that will never be valued at the same dollar amount. There was over $5 billion of investments made. Certainly, there's some value there and we'll try to get that value and sell those assets. But oftentimes, even when he made those sorts of investments, whether it was directly or through others in management, sometimes he would do that really without any pro forma or any valuation. Not really quite sure how some of the purchase price numbers were derived. So it gives you a sort of worry obviously, that the purchases were overvalued so there's a concern there as well. John Ray: Alameda was a customer, if you will, of the exchange and it's through that customer relationship, plus other arrangements, that allowed Alameda to borrow those funds, and then pick positions on the exchange like anyone, you know, who would hedge an asset in the market. He had unusually large positions, of course, and sometimes they were wrong in those positions, and they resulted in big losses. But ultimately, the commingling issue is the same in a different issue. He took the money from FTX to cover those positions and ultimately, when customers went to get their money back from .com there was a run on the bank. John Ray: The Alameda fund, well that's just the fund that drew resources from the exchanges, so it's really separate, it was not for customers per se, it was just simply a hedge fund. John Ray: For structural purposes and just for ease of presentation, we tried to take the over 100 entities and we put those in four silos. To demystify that, it's very simple. There was a U.S. silo, which was the FTX.us exchange for US investors. There was an international exchange called FTX.com. Again, for non-U.S. persons that invested in crypto. There was Alameda, which is purely a crypto hedge fund, which made other investments, venture capital type investments. Then there's a fourth entity which was purely investments. And although our investigation is not complete, those investments were most likely made with either Alameda money or money that originally came from ftx.com. But that fourth silo is just purely investments Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC): And who owned those four silos? John Ray: All those entities are owned or controlled by Sam Bankman-Fried. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA): Now I've heard from some on the other side criticizing the SEC and in July in this room I criticized the Head of Enforcement at the SEC for not going after crypto exchanges. But the fact is that without objection I'd like to put on the record a letter signed by 19 Republican members designed to push back on the SEC, a brushback pitch if you're familiar with baseball, attacking the SEC for paying attention to and I quote, "the purported risks of digital assets." And I'd like to put on the record without objection comments from eight members made in this room that were designed to attack the SEC as being Luddite and anti-innovation for their efforts. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY): Mr. Ray, a number of their debtors in the FTX group are located in offshore jurisdictions. Will this complicate the efforts to retrieve the assets of those there? If so why? John Ray: No, I don't think it will complicate it at all. The various jurisdictions, historically in bankruptcy, and I've been in a number of cross border situations, the jurisdictions will cooperate with each other. The regulators in all these jurisdictions, I think, realize that everyone's there for a common purpose, to protect the victims and recover assets for the victims of these situations. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY): How much have you been able to secure and where are most of these assets located? John Ray: We've been able to secure over a billion dollars of assets. We've secured those two cold wallets in a secure location. It's an ongoing process, though, which will take weeks and perhaps months to secure all the assets. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-NY): Are most creditors located in the US or foreign jurisdictions. John Ray: The majority of the creditors trade through the .com silo and are outside of this jurisdiction, although there are some foreign customers that are on the US silo, and vice versa. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO): Reports suggest that ftx.com transferred more than half of its customer funds, roughly $10 billion, to Alameda research. Is that accurate, sir? John Ray: Our work is not done, we don't have exact numbers for you today, but I will say it's several billion dollars, in that range, so we know that the size of the harm was significant. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA): Have you seen evidence of such a cover up? Have you seen evidence that there was any independent governance of Alameda separate and apart from that of the exchange? John Ray: The operations of the FTX group were not segregated. It was really operated as one company. As a result, there's no distinction virtually, between the operations of the company and who controlled those operations. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA): Did FTX have sufficient risk management systems and controls to appropriately monitor any leverage the business took on and the interconnections it had with businesses, like again, Alameda. John Ray: There were virtually no internal controls and no separateness whatsoever. Why Congress Needs to Act: Lessons Learned from the FTX Collapse December 1, 2022 Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Witness: Rostin Behnam, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Clip Transcripts 18:30 Debbie Stabenow (D-MI): I've said this before and I'll say it again: the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act does not -- does not -- take authority away from other financial regulators. Nor does it make the CFTC the primary crypto regulator, because crypto assets can be used in many different ways. No single financial regulator has the expertise or the authority to regulate the entire industry. 24:30 John Boozman (R-AK): Many have asked why is the Ag Committee involved in this? The Ag Committee is involved because this committee and no other committee in the Senate is responsible for the oversight of the nation's commodity markets. Bitcoin, although a crypto currency, is a commodity. It's a commodity in the eyes of the federal courts and the opinion of the SEC Chairman, there is no dispute about this. If there are exchanges where commodities are traded, be it wheat, oil, or Bitcoin, then they must be regulated. It's simply that simple. 32:45 Rostin Behnam: I have asked Congress directly for clear authority to impose our traditional regulatory regime over the digital asset commodity market. 33:00 Rostin Behnam: I have not been shy about my encouragement of bills that contemplate shared responsibility for the CFTC and the Securities Exchange Commission, where the SEC would utilize its existing authority and reporting regime requirements for all security tokens, while the CFTC would apply its market based rules for the more limited subset of commodity tokens, which do not have the same characteristics of security tokens. 41:00 Rostin Behnam: I can though share with this committee with respect to me, my team and I have taken an initial review of my calendar and what we've observed is that my team and I met with Mr. Bankman-Fried and his team. Over the past 14 months, we met 10 times in the CFTC office at their request, all in relation to this DCO this Clearinghouse application. Nine out of the 10 times we were in Washington, one was at a widely held conference in Florida earlier this year. In addition, there were two phone calls, I believe, and a number of messages, all in relation to the DCO application, providing us updates suggesting that they were answering questions from different divisions, and trying as I said, to doggedly move the application along and to get it approved. 48:00 Sen. John Boozman (R-AK): If ftx.com had been a registered U.S. exchange, would the CFTC have been able to mitigate what happened. Rostin Behnam: Senator, you know, with our current authority, the answer is now. We need the authority to get into a CFTC registered exchange, as you point out. If we had that authority, and they were registered, given what we know from the facts about conflicts of interest, commingling funds, books and records, we would have been able to prohibit it. And I would point to what we're doing with Ledger X. On a daily basis our staff is in direct communication not only with Ledger X, but the custodians themselves, able to identify customer property, and customer money. Imagine that scenario with FTX.us if we had a daily lens into the location of customer money and customer property, you can imagine, given what we've learned about what's happened with FTX, we could have certainly prohibited many of the actions that we're hearing about. 1:16:00 Rostin Behnam: In terms of regulation of cash markets, right, the spot market, we simply do not have authority to register cash market exchanges or any intermediary broker dealer entity within that structure and that's what concerns me, this is the gap. 1:59:30 Rostin Behnam: Unfortunately, when we act, it's often after the fact because the information that allows us to bring an enforcement action in digital asset cash commodity markets, is only because information is coming to us from outsiders, from referrals, from tips, from whistleblowers, and this is in stark contrast to some of the surveillance tools and examination tools that we would have if we had a comprehensive regulatory framework over digital asset commodities. 2:07:00 Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL): There'll be a reporter waiting in the hall -- I've already talked to her this morning -- who will ask you, "Did he ever contribute to your campaign?" I said "Oh, no, I never heard of the man." She said "You're wrong, Senator, he contributed to you." So the cryptocurrency people are active politically. And they are trying to achieve a political end here. It is their right as citizens of this country to do that. But it really calls on us to make sure that whatever we do is credible under those circumstances. 2:22:30 Rostin Behnam: I can't speak to what Mr. Bankman-Fried or anyone at FTX was thinking when they were advocating for regulation, but the remarkable thing is to think about it in the context of compliance and what we've learned about the FTX entities and just thinking about the bill that Senator Stabenow and Boozman introduced, they would have been so far out of compliance that it just wouldn't have even been possible. Legislative Hearing to Review S.4760, the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act September 15, 2022 Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Witnesses: Rostin Behnam, Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Todd Phillips, Director, Financial Regulation and Corporate Governance, Center for American Progress Shelia Warren, Chief Executive Officer, Crypto Council for Innovation Christine Parker, Vice President, Deputy General Counsel, Coinbase Heath Tarbert, Chief Legal Officer, Citadel Securities Denelle Dixon, Chief Executive Officer, Stellar Development Foundation Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States December 8, 2021 House Committee on Financial Services Witnesses: Jeremy Allaire, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Circle Samuel Bankman-Fried, Founder and CEO, FTX Brian P. Brooks, CEO, Bitfury Group Charles Cascarilla, CEO and co-Founder, Paxos Trust Company Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director, Stellar Development Foundation Alesia Jeanne Haas, CEO, Coinbase Inc. and CFO, Coinbase Global Inc. Clip Transcripts 23:30 Sam Bankman-Fried: We are already regulated and licensed. We have many licenses globally. Here in the United States, we are regulated by the states under the money service business and money transmitting regime, and we are regulated nationally by the CFTC where we have a DCO, a DCM, a swap execution facility, and other licensure. 1:13:30 Sam Bankman-Fried: One of the really innovative properties of cryptocurrency markets are 24/7 risk monitoring and engines. We do not have overnight risk or weekend risk or holiday risk in the same way traditional assets do, which allow risk monitoring and de risking of positions in real time to help mitigate volatility. We've been operating for a number of years with billions of dollars of open interest. We've never had customer losses, clawbacks or anything like that. Even going through periods of large movements in both directions. We store collateral from our users in a way which is not always done in the traditional financial ecosystem to backstop positions. And the last thing that I'll say is if you look at what precipitated some of the 2008 financial crisis, you saw a number of bilateral bespoke non-reported transactions happening between financial counterparties which then got repackaged and releveraged again and again and again, such that no one knew how much risk was in that system until it all fell apart. If you compare that to what happens on FTX or other major cryptocurrency venues today, there is complete transparency about the full open interest. There is complete transparency about the positions that are held. There is a robust, consistent risk framework. 1:34:00 Sam Bankman-Fried: In addition to a bunch of international licenses in the United States, we are participating in that system you referenced with the money transmitter and money service businesses license is in addition to that, however, we are also licensed by the CFTC. We have a DCO, a DCM, and other licensure from them through FTX.us derivatives and we look forward to continuing to work with them to build out our product suite. We just submitted a 800 page, I believe, proposal to them a few days ago, which we're excited to discuss and we're also happy to talk with other regulators about potential products in the United States. 2:37:00 Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN): Now it's my understanding that FTX uses surveillance trade technology akin to the technology national Securities Exchanges use to protect investors and ensure sound spot markets. What does this technology and any other tools FTX uses to protect the spot market from fraud and manipulation look like? Sam Bankman-Fried: Yeah. So, you know, like other exchanges, we do have these technologies in addition to the, you know, new customer policies that we can identify individuals associated with trades. We have surveillance for unusual trading activity. We have manual inspections of anything that you know, gets flagged either by the automated surveillance or by manual inspection. And we do this with the trading activity with deposits and withdrawals and everything else. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN): Sounds like you're doing a lot to make sure there is no fraud or other manipulation. Thank you Mr. Bankman-Fried, again, for helping us understand the extensive guardrails a cryptocurrency exchange like FTX has in place to ensure sound crypto spot markets for investors. 2:52:30 Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa): Mr. Bankman-Fried, I'd like to start by asking you the first question. FTX.us has a derivatives platform and recently bought ledger x as part of that. Is that correct? Sam Bankman-Fried: Yes. Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa): Okay, thank you. And that platform is registered with the CFTC. Is that correct? Sam Bankman-Fried: Yep. Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa): Okay, perfect. So I just want to clarify something. And this isn't to say anybody's doing any wrong. It's just to get the lay of the land. You also have an exchange for Bitcoin and other tokens, but that is not registered with either the CFTC or the SEC. Is that correct? Sam Bankman-Fried: That's correct. Currently, neither of them are primary markets regulated for spot Bitcoin to USD markets. Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa): Okay, thank you. And I know you're registered as a money transmitter, but that's not the same kind of oversight that we'll see from a federal market regulator. I also sit on the Agriculture Committee, which oversees the CFTC, so a gap like this is especially concerning to me. And the big problem that I see here, from what I understand, is that the CFTC doesn't have regulatory authority for spot trading of commodities, just their derivatives. So that leaves consumers with inconsistent protections, which is a concern that I have. 2:55:00 Rep. Cindy Axne (D-Iowa): Bitcoin, which has almost a trillion dollars invested in it, has CFTC oversight for people who are trading futures and options, but not for people who are trading the currency itself. Is that right? Sam Bankman-Fried: That is essentially correct. Full FTX Superbowl Commercial with Larry David Tom Brady FTX Commercials Steph Curry FTX Commercial Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)
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