[1]

Greg Zerzan

Greg Zerzan is an attorney and former acting assistant secretary of the U.S Treasury under President George W. Bush. He has held several prominent posts in government and is a frequent speaker on markets and public policy matters.

Early life and education

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Zerzan is the youngest son of Charles J. Zerzan Jr. and Joan Kathan Zerzan.[2] Charles Zerzan, Jr. was a noted physician and decorated military officer;[3] Zerzan's grandfather, Charles Zerzan Sr., was likewise a distinguished U.S. Army veteran.[4] Joan Zerzan was a noted Oregonian widely respected for an array of talents.[5] Zerzan grew up in Portland, Oregon, and attended both undergraduate and law school at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.[6] While at Willamette he worked in the Oregon State Legislature as an aid to various members of the state house and Senate. He was a member of the Delta Zeta chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and alumnus of the Order of Triple Omega.

Professional

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Zerzan has worked in several prominent positions in the U.S. government, starting with his service as counsel and general counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. He later became senior counsel to the House Committee on Banking, and the House Committee on Financial Services. In these positions he was instrumental in helping create legislation such as the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.[7]

In March 2003, Zerzan was appointed deputy assistant secretary for Financial Institutions Policy in the Administration of President George W. Bush.[8] Later Zerzan became acting assistant secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions.[9] While at the U.S. Treasury Zerzan was one of the foremost proponents of reform of the Government Sponsored Enterprises, early on calling for regulatory improvements to limit the systemic risk the entities posed to the US financial system.[10] Zerzan was also a strong proponent of tax cuts and reducing the size of US government programs, which he felt posed an unacceptable risk to U.S. taxpayers.[11] Zerzan also oversaw the office of Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, and was responsible for managing the implementation of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.[12]

After leaving the US Government Zerzan became counsel and head of global public policy for ISDA, which is the financial trade association which oversees the over-the-counter derivatives industry. In this position Zerzan worked with government and industry leaders around the world to help manage policy related to privately negotiated risk management contracts.[13]

Zerzan frequently testified before the United States Congress[14] and appears on television and in print discussing matters related to markets and U.S. government policy.[15][16] Zerzan is also a senior fellow at the law school of the University of Melbourne, Australia.[17] Zerzan serves on the board of Cure SMA, a non-profit dedicated to finding a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.[18] He is also a board member of the Commodity Markets Council, a trade association serving members of the commodity derivatives marketplace.[19] Zerzan formerly was a director at Koch Industries[20][21][22] and served as counsel to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the U.S. House of Representatives.[23] In March 2019 Zerzan was appointed Deputy Solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior.[24] He played a key role in managing the legal operations of the department, including defending the decision to keep National Parks open during the December 2018-January 2019 U.S. government shutdown.[25]

In November 2018 Zerzan was appointed to serve on the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "About SMA". Cure SMA.
  2. ^ Congressional Record (February 4, 1998) http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=1998_record&page=E93&position=all; http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CREC-2013-03-13/pdf/CREC-2013-03-13-pt1-PgE288-3.pdf
  3. ^ "CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  4. ^ "The United Service" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  5. ^ Remarks Commemorating the Life of Joan Zerzan, Congressional Record, March 13, 2013 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r113:E13MR3-0019:/[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Roll Call, (March 6, 2003) http://www.rollcall.com/issues/48_66/climbers/749-1.html?type=printer_friendly
  7. ^ Roll Call,( March 6, 2003) http://www.rollcall.com/issues/48_66/climbers/749-1.html?type=printer_friendly Sarbanes Oxley Act Draws Criticism (Sept. 20, 2002) http://securities.stanford.edu/news-archive/2002/20020920_Headline08_Lonsdale.htm Archived 2007-06-11 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Department of the Treasury". Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  9. ^ "Homepage | FIA". www.fia.org. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  10. ^ "Press Releases". Retrieved 2024-04-05.
  11. ^ Remarks of Deputy Assistant Secretary Greg Zerzan (April 22, 2003) http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/js208.aspx
  12. ^ Terrorism Risk Insurance, Trade Deficit and Regulation Form Focus of 2nd Annual Summit (March 5, 2005) http://www.networksfinancialinstitute.org/News/Pages/PressReleasesArchive.aspx?PressReleaseID=44
  13. ^ Greg Zerzan Joins ISDA (March 16, 2006) http://www.isda.org/press/press031606zerzan.html
  14. ^ Testimony of the Honorable Greg Zerzan (June 2, 2004) http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/js1704.aspx; Testimony of Greg Zerzan (September 26, 2007) http://agriculture.house.gov/testimony/110/h70926/Zerzan.pdf Archived 2009-01-30 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ Energy Manipulation (December 1, 2007) https://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=605478789&play=1 ; Fox Business Video (various dates) http://www.foxbusiness.com/search-results.html?searchString=zerzan&searchType=news&x=45&y=12[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ Dollar is a national security issue, Washington Times, October 16, 2009 http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/16/dollar-is-a-national-security-issue/] ; More Government Healthcare Means a Smaller Military, Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2009 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204518504574417681826041284] ; Wall Street Reform Hits Main Street, Wall Street Journal, December 9, 2009 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704240504574586070090224440] ; Zombieland, Forbes.com, January 6, 2010, https://www.forbes.com/2010/01/06/bailout-super-regulator-reform-opinions-contributors-gregory-zerzan.html]
  17. ^ Melbourne Law Masters Faculty (October 2008)http://search.unimelb.edu.au/#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=zerzan&gsc.sort=&gsc.page=1
  18. ^ "Cure SMA | Staff & Board". www.curesma.org. Archived from the original on 23 December 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Commodity Markets Council| The leading trade association for commodity futures exchanges and their industry participants".
  20. ^ "Revolving Door: Greg Zerzan Employment Summary | OpenSecrets". www.opensecrets.org.
  21. ^ [1][dead link]
  22. ^ "Koch's web of influence". Center for Public Integrity. 6 April 2011.
  23. ^ "Energy and Commerce Committee adds Koch lobbyist - Caught Our Eye". www.legistorm.com. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  24. ^ Perlman, Derek Kravitz, Al Shaw, Claire (7 March 2018). "Gregory P. Zerzan | Trump Town". ProPublica. Retrieved 2020-01-02.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Green, Miranda (2019-09-27). "Trump administration spent more than $10 million in collected fees to keep parks open during shutdown". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
  26. ^ Congressional Record, (November 13, 2018)https://www.congress.gov/crec/2018/11/13/CREC-2018-11-13-pt1-PgE1518-3.pdf