NEW YORK (SEPTEMBER 16, 2024) – Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced today that Charles C. Gray, most recently Deputy General Counsel of the Federal Reserve Board and a 15-year veteran of the Federal Reserve System, will be rejoining the firm as a partner in our Financial Services Group.
Mr. Gray was head of the Financial Regulation and Policy Group within the Federal Reserve Board’s Legal Division. In this role, Mr. Gray oversaw a large legal team spanning both the Banking Regulation and Policy Group and the Monetary Affairs and Payment Systems Group, with responsibility for providing legal and policy advice across the full range of complex rulemaking, interpretive and applications matters arising in those areas. Mr. Gray also served as Assistant General Counsel of the Federal Open Market Committee.
In March 2020, Mr. Gray left Sullivan & Cromwell to join the Board of Governors to help lead the array of emergency lending programs that were put into place by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Department of the Treasury in response to the economic disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. For his efforts (while on detail to the Treasury Department), Mr. Gray received the Treasury Department’s Distinguished Service Award.
Mr. Gray’s COVID-19 crisis work drew on his prior experience as a senior officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he served from 2006 to 2016 during a historic period of financial crisis and post-crisis financial reform. As a member of the New York Fed’s Legal Group, Mr. Gray helped shape and carry out the Fed’s response to the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010, Mr. Gray served as a policy adviser to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he contributed to the drafting and development of the Dodd-Frank Act. He then participated in a broad range of regulatory and supervisory efforts to implement Dodd-Frank and to develop related post-crisis international standards.
“Charles’ exceptional range of experience as a senior Federal Reserve lawyer in Washington and New York will add further strength and depth to our premier financial services practice,” said Robert Giuffra and Scott Miller, co-chairs of Sullivan & Cromwell. “We are delighted to welcome him back to S&C. He will be a go-to lawyer for our financial institution clients.”
“Over the last two decades, Charles has been at the center of the U.S. government’s response to every major period of financial disruption and has worked to shape the far-reaching regulatory and supervisory responses. His sound judgment, insight and deep knowledge of the financial services industry will enhance our market-leading practice,” said Mitch Eitel, global head of S&C’s Financial Services Group.
“S&C has been at the forefront of developments in the rapidly evolving financial services landscape. I am thrilled to be rejoining this team of first-rate lawyers, who are unwaveringly committed to helping clients navigate their toughest business and regulatory challenges,” said Mr. Gray.
Mr. Gray is a graduate of Harvard College (1997) and Harvard Law School (2001). Prior to law school, Mr. Gray served as a Professional Staff Member for the Banking and Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked for Chairman Jim Leach on the legislation ultimately enacted as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. Following a judicial clerkship, Mr. Gray began his legal practice as an associate in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Financial Services Group from 2003 to 2006 and returned as special counsel from 2016 to 2020.
About S&C’s Financial Services Group
Our Financial Services Group is distinguished by its industry focus and cross-disciplinary approach—unique among our peers. Our financial services lawyers work on an integrated basis on matters involving the full range of our clients’ needs, such as mergers and acquisitions, bank regulation, capital markets, digital assets, fintech, economic sanctions and financial crime, commodities, futures and derivatives, consumer finance, and investigations and litigation. Our approach has been developed to provide the best client service and, specifically, to mitigate the risk of “blind spots” created by a more traditionally siloed banking practice.
About Sullivan & Cromwell LLP
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is a leading global law firm that advises on major domestic and cross-border M&A, significant litigation and corporate investigations, finance and corporate transactions, and complex antitrust, regulatory, tax and estate planning matters. Our firm’s hallmarks are the highest quality independent advice and intense dedication to solving client problems. Founded in 1879, S&C has more than 900 lawyers located in offices in New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Brussels, Hong Kong, Beijing, Tokyo, Melbourne and Sydney.