Speaker Biographies
December 13, 2005
Jerry W. Markham is currently a professor at the Florida International University (FIU) College of Law, specializing in the fields of corporate finance, banking, commodities trading, securities, and international trade law. Prior to teaching at FIU, Mr. Markham was a professor at the University of North Carolina for 12 years and before that was an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University School of Law. In addition to numerous law journal articles, he is the author of a three-volume financial history of the United States and has coauthored four casebooks on corporate law and banking regulation. He also has published a two-volume treatise and a history book on the law of commodity futures regulation, and was the principal coauthor of a two-volume treatise on securities regulation. Mr. Markham has been a lecturer at the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France, and also has lectured in Sydney, Warsaw, Beijing, Mexico City, Montevideo, Fukuoka, and Bangkok. Before his move to academia, Professor Markham had been secretary and counsel of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc.; chief counsel of the Division of Enforcement at the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission; attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission; and a partner with the international firm of Rogers & Wells (now Clifford Chance) in Washington, D.C.
Susan C. Ervin is a partner in the financial services group of Dechert LLP. She chairs the firm's futures and derivatives practice, drawing upon more than 20 years of futures, securities, and derivatives experience in the private and public sectors. Ms. Ervin works with financial institutions, investment managers, brokers, and intermediaries in developing new markets, products, and investment strategies and in engaging in the full range of derivatives transactions and alternative investments. Before joining Dechert in January 1998, she served for 10 years as deputy director and chief counsel of the Division of Trading and Markets of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). During that time, she was the principal legal advisor for the agency's investment management, broker, and market regulatory program, reviewed new derivative products, and developed and interpreted rules governing money managers and commodity professionals. Ms. Ervin held a number of other positions at the CFTC, including deputy general counsel and assistant general counsel. Previously, she was an associate at a New York City law firm. Ms. Ervin is a member of the board of editors of the Futures and Derivatives Law Report and the editorial advisory board of the Futures Industry Magazine. She is a frequent speaker, commentator, and author on derivatives and financial services issues. Ms. Ervin served as an adjunct professor of law at the Georgetown University Law Center (1991-92) and as a lecturer at the George Washington University School of Business and Public Management (1994-96). She is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars.
Robert E. Litan is the vice president for research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City and a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Litan was formerly vice president and director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution (1996-2003), and he currently directs the AEI-Brookings Joint Center on Regulatory Studies. An economist and an attorney who has practiced law and taught banking law at the Yale Law School, Mr. Litan is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles on financial institutions, international trade, and regulatory issues. He has consulted for numerous organizations, public and private, and testified as an expert witness in a variety of legal and regulatory proceedings. Formerly, he was associate director of the Office of Management and Budget, deputy assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, and a regulatory specialist for the President’s Council of Economic Advisers.
Daniel J. Roth is president and chief executive officer of the National Futures Association (NFA), the premier independent provider of innovative and efficient regulatory programs that safeguard the integrity of the derivatives market. Mr. Roth joined the NFA in September 1983 as an attorney and has held a number of positions with increasing responsibilities, including general counsel, executive vice president, and chief operating officer. Prior to coming to NFA, Mr. Roth served as assistant state's attorney in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office where he was a member of the Official Misconduct Task Force of the Special Prosecutions Bureau. Prior to that, Mr. Roth was an associate attorney in general litigation with the law firm of Sidley & Austin. Mr. Roth has served as an adjunct professor at the Loyola School of Law and has authored numerous articles for futures industry publications.
Marianne K. Smythe is a partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, where she has been since 1993. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Smythe served for two and a half years as the director of the Division of Investment Management of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also at the SEC, Ms. Smythe served as executive assistant to SEC chairman Richard C. Breeden and was associate director of the Division of Investment Management from 1988 to 1990. From 1981 to 1987, Ms. Smythe was a professor at the School of Law of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Peter J. Wallison joined AEI in January 1999 as a resident fellow and as co-director of AEI’s program on financial market deregulation. Prior to joining AEI, he practiced banking, corporate, and financial law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. Mr. Wallison has held a number of government positions. From June 1981 to January 1985, he was general counsel of the United States Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan administration's proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry; served as general counsel to the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee; and participated in the Treasury Department's efforts to deal with the less-developed-country debt issue. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Between 1972 and 1976, Mr. Wallison served first as special assistant to New York's Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller when he was vice president of the United States.
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