Thomas A. Russo
Thomas A. Russo | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 6, 1943 Staten Island, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer, executive |
| Known for | Vice chairman and chief legal officer at Lehman Brothers; general counsel for American International Group (AIG) |
Thomas A. Russo (born November 6, 1943) is an American lawyer and former executive on Wall Street. He held the positions of vice chairman and chief legal officer at Lehman Brothers and served as general counsel for American International Group (AIG), both of which were central figures during the 2008 financial crisis.
Early life and education
Born in Staten Island, New York, Russo is the son of Lucio F. Russo, who was once a member of the New York State Assembly, and Tina I. Russo. He attended Xavier High School in Manhattan and gained early experience working as a floor clerk at the American Stock Exchange in 1960. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in economics from Fordham University in 1965, earning membership in Phi Beta Kappa. In 1969, he completed both an MBA from the Cornell Graduate School of Business and a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.
Career
Following his law degree, Russo began his career as a staff attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In 1971, he joined the Wall Street law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft as an associate. By 1975, he was appointed deputy general counsel of the newly established Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shortly thereafter became the inaugural director of its Division of Trading and Markets. It is reported that President Jimmy Carter considered him for the role of CFTC chairman.
Russo returned to Cadwalader in 1977 as a partner, where he represented prominent banks, investment funds, brokerage firms, and investment banks. He gained recognition as a specialist in the relationship between New York’s stock markets and Chicago’s futures markets. After the 1987 stock market crash, he provided counsel to the Presidential Task Force on Market Mechanisms. In 1989, he was a leading contender under President George H.W. Bush to head the SEC. The National Law Journal frequently included him among the “100 Most Influential Attorneys in the United States.”
Lehman Brothers
Between 1993 and 2008, Russo was vice chairman and chief legal officer at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., including throughout its landmark bankruptcy in 2008. Upon joining Lehman, he significantly reduced dependence on approximately 325 external law firms by incentivizing those firms to direct investment banking business to Lehman. He also negotiated the $1 billion acquisition of Shearson Lehman by Primerica Corp., which was then the largest brokerage purchase.
Russo was instrumental in achieving a record $1.4 billion settlement in 2003 involving ten Wall Street firms accused of conflicts of interest amid efforts to expand investment banking operations. By 2005, he ranked as the second-highest-paid legal counsel in the United States. He served on the board of the Security Industry Association, Wall Street’s principal lobbying organization, where he led initiatives to simplify regulations and encourage self-regulation within over-the-counter derivatives markets. Additionally, Russo was a frequent participant at the World Economic Forum.
AIG
In 2010, Russo joined AIG as executive vice president and general counsel during its recovery phase following a $185 billion government bailout. He oversaw legal matters related to divesting non-core assets to allow AIG to concentrate on its insurance business and played a pivotal role in negotiating deals that enabled full reimbursement to the federal government. AIG CEO Peter Hancock credited Russo with spearheading negotiations with both the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to repay taxpayers with profit, managing over 90 strategic asset sales along with six Treasury stock sales, while also defending against major litigation.
Between his tenures at Lehman Brothers and AIG, Russo was affiliated with Patton Boggs LLP.
He also provided advice to the 1987 Brady Commission and served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate Business School. Russo has authored multiple books and more than seventy articles focused on commodities, securities regulation, and financial market oversight.
Civic Engagement
Russo holds the position of vice chairman and is a board member at the Institute of International Education, where he supervises initiatives such as the Fulbright Scholarship Program. He played a key role in establishing the Scholar Rescue Fund, which offers fellowships to academics facing danger in their native countries; this contribution has been formally acknowledged in the Congressional Record.
His past governance experience includes serving on the Board of Governors for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as well as participating in the International Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Additionally, Russo has contributed as a board member for organizations like the March of Dimes and the Institute for Financial Markets. He is also affiliated with the Economic Club of New York and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Publications
- Regulation of Brokers, Dealers and Securities Markets, Warren, Gorham & Lamont, Inc., Boston (1977), co-authored with Nicholas Wolfson and Richard M. Phillips
- Regulation of The Commodities Futures and Options Markets, Shepard's/McGraw-Hill Inc., Colorado Springs (1983)
- The 2008 Financial Crisis and its Aftermath: Addressing the Next Debt Challenge, Group of Thirty, Washington, D.C. (2011), written jointly with Aaron J. Katzel