Groups: CARE Senior Fellows
Thomas P. Vartanian is the Executive Director of the Financial Technology & Cybersecurity Center. He previously served at several federal banking agencies, including as General Counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and the FSLIC in the S&L crisis, and before that as Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Between 1983 and 2018, he chaired the financial institution’s practices at two international law firms, Dechert LLP and Fried Frank LLP. He has represented parties in a majority of the 50 largest financial institution failures in American history, and advised most of the presidential administrations in that period.
He is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on the financial services industry, having appeared on Bloomberg TV, CNN, Fox News, Newsmax, PBS and various local and national radio shows. His latest book, 200 Years of American Financial Panics: Crashes, Recessions, Depressions, and the Technology That Will Change It All (Prometheus Books) chronicles the country’s tumultuous financial history and the impact that technology will have on its future. His next book, The Unhackable Internet: How Rebuilding Cyberspace Can Create Real Security And Prevent Financial Collapse (Prometheus Books) will be available February 2023.
As a musician, he appeared in the first production in the United States in 1970 of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. His classic rock band, The Johnny Esquire Band, has helped raise approximately $5,000,000 for charities in the Washington D.C. area over the last twenty-five years. Mr. Vartanian also founded and plays for the Washington All Stars, a senior baseball team that has raised more than $500,000 for Special Olympics. For more, see www.thomasvartanian.com.