Thomas P. Vartanian is the Executive Director of the Financial Technology
& Cybersecurity Center. He previously held a similar position at George
Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, where he was also a
Professor of Law. Between 1983 and 2018, he chaired the Financial
Institution’s practices at two international law firms, Dechert LLP
and Fried Frank LLP, through four financial crises. Mr. Vartanian served
in the Reagan Administration during the S&L crisis as General Counsel
of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC. Prior to that, he served in
the Carter Administration in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as
Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel, where he drafted rules and interpretations
in the 1970s for the Truth in Lending, Equal Credit Opportunity, Home
Mortgage Disclosure, Community Reinvestment, and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Acts.
Mr. Vartanian is has been described by clients in Chambers as “one of the best
financial services lawyers in America.” He was Chairman of the American
Bar Association’s Cyberspace Law Committee between 1998 and 2002, where he
chaired an international task force of lawyers from twenty countries which
released a seminal report on the novel issues created by doing business in
Cyberspace. He is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on the financial
services industry and has authored more than four hundred articles and eight
books, including his latest book, 200 Years of American Financial Panics:
Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology That Will Change It All
chronicling the country’s tumultuous financial history and the impact
that technology will have on its future.
Professional Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- New York Bar Association
- DC Bar Association
- Former Chairman of the Cyberspace Law Committee of the American Bar Association