George Madison, who served as general counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury from September 2009 to June 2012, has joined Sidley Austin LLP as a partner in the firm’s global banking and financial services practice.
Madison was appointed to his role at the Treasury by President Obama and confirmed unanimously by the Senate. As general counsel, Madison was the chief law officer of the Treasury and a senior policy advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner.
He was highly involved in the formulation of the Dodd-Frank legislation, as well as many of the related regulations that have since been implemented under this legislation.
Madison also oversaw the Treasury Department’s legal division made up of approximately 2,000 lawyers and 1,600 staff within the Treasury Department’s headquarters, the Internal Revenue Service, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the Bureau of the Public Debt, the Financial Management Service, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, the United States Mint, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
“While at the Treasury Department George was responsible for overseeing a number of important initiatives, including those related to money laundering and economic sanctions enforcement, and the formation of federal agencies under Dodd-Frank including FSOC, the CFPB, FIO, and OFR,” said William Eckland, a global practice coordinator of Sidley’s banking and financial services practice.
“We look forward to working with George and drawing on his wealth of knowledge gained from direct involvement with significant enforcement and regulatory matters,” Eckland added. “This, combined with our team’s strong existing capabilities, will allow us to provide clients with enhanced counsel regarding compliance and enforcement issues.”
Prior to his role at the Treasury Department, Mr. Madison was the executive vice president and general counsel of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), where the corporate governance and compliance functions reported to him in addition to the legal division.
“George’s knowledge of and experience in the banking and financial industries combined with his years as general counsel at the Treasury Department during the financial crisis will allow him to provide clients with a well-informed perspective on how to handle complex issues such as ‘bet the company’ litigation, compliance and regulatory investigations,” said Michael Schmidtberger, managing partner of the firm’s New York office.
“We welcome George to Sidley as he engages with our talented team here and with the talented lawyers in our banking and financial services practice around the globe.”
