Lessons Learned: Matthew Feldman

Matthew Feldman was the chief legal advisor to the Department of the Treasury on the Obama administration’s Task Force on the Auto Industry, which was established in 2009 and charged with providing aid to Chrysler and General Motors (GM), and later other entities, to avoid their disorderly failure and the loss of a million or more jobs. The Auto Task Force worked intensively throughout 2009 to swiftly negotiate with corporate leadership, unions, investors, and other stakeholders of the two manufacturers to design an orderly restructuring that would put the companies on a path to stability. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner recognized Feldman with the Secretary’s Honor Award, for Feldman’s “distinguished service to the American people as the Chief Legal Advisor to the Department of Treasury Auto Team.” After serving on the Task Force, Feldman returned to the law firm Wilkie Farr & Gallagher, where he is co-chairman and recognized worldwide as a leading expert on bankruptcies and restructuring. This “Lessons Learned” is based on an interview with Mr. Feldman

Lessons Learned: Mara McNeill

Mara McNeill was senior counsel to the US Department of the Treasury on the Obama administration’s Automotive Investment Financing Program (AIFP) during the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007–09. As senior counsel, McNeill was responsible for the department’s $80 billon financing of General Motors, Chrysler, Ally Financial, and Chrysler Financial. She worked with the Auto Team Task Force, the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) legal team, and the Department of Treasury. The bipartisan AIFP team was charged with overseeing the government’s efforts to assist the companies toward a “new lease on life,” while exercising strong financial principles to protect the government’s debt and equity investments

Lessons Learned: Ron Bloom

Ron Bloom served as senior adviser to Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner on President Barack Obama’s Task Force on the Automotive Industry and as assistant to the president for manufacturing policy (2009–2011). As senior adviser on the Auto Task Force team, Bloom helped lead the restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler LLC. Subsequently, he advised the Obama administration with policy development and strategic planning to revitalize the manufacturing sector. Bloom brought to Treasury his unique experience working with organized labor (including the United Steelworkers Union, United Auto Workers, the Teamsters, the Air Line Pilots Association), and in the investment industry, including as a founding partner of the Keilin and Bloom investment banking firm. Bloom was highly regarded for his unparalleled negotiation skills. He left Treasury in September 2012 and is currently managing partner and vice chair in Brookfield’s private equity group

Lessons Learned: Sadiq Malik

Sadiq Malik was a member of the Obama administration’s Task Force on the Auto Industry, which was established in 2009 and charged with providing aid to Chrysler and General Motors, and later to other entities, to avoid their disorderly failure and the loss of a million or more jobs. The Auto Task Force worked intensively throughout 2009 to swiftly negotiate with the corporate leadership, unions, investors, and other stakeholders of the two manufacturers, to design an orderly restructuring that would put the companies on a path to stability. Malik, working for the Auto Task Force, helped take General Motors through the largest industrial bankruptcy reorganization in US history. He also helped Steven Rattner, head of the Task Force, chronicle the team’s work in Rattner’s book, Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry. This “Lessons Learned” summary is based on an interview with Mr. Malik

Lessons Learned: Steven Rattner

Steven Rattner, an investment banker and private equity professional, joined the Obama administration as counselor to the Secretary of the Treasury and head of the Obama administration’s Task Force on the Auto Industry, which was charged with providing aid to Chrysler and General Motors, and later to other entities, to avoid their disorderly failure and the loss of a million or more jobs. The Auto Task Force worked intensely throughout 2009 to swiftly negotiate with the corporate leadership, unions, investors, and other stakeholders of the two manufacturers to design an orderly restructuring that would put the companies on a path to stability. Rattner has chronicled the Task Force’s efforts in his book, Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry. This Lessons Learned summary is based on an interview with Mr. Rattner

Lessons Learned: Harry Wilson

Harry Wilson was one of four senior advisers to the US Department of the Treasury during the Obama administration and served on the President’s Task Force on the Auto Industry, which was established in 2009 and charged with providing aid to General Motors and Chrysler, and later to other entities, to avoid their disorderly failure and the loss of a million or more jobs. The Auto Task Force worked intensively throughout 2009 to swiftly negotiate with the corporate leadership, unions, investors, and other stakeholders of the two manufacturers to design an orderly restructuring that would put the companies on a path to stability. Wilson led the government’s efforts regarding General Motors while it went through its bankruptcy and restructuring. This “Lessons Learned” is based on an interview with Mr. Wilson

Lessons Learned: Diane Thompson

Diane Thompson was of counsel at the National Consumer Law Center from 2006 to 2014, conducting policy advocacy on legal issues affecting low-income consumers during the housing crisis. Subsequently, she joined the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), where she led the development of and provided guidance on federal consumer regulations in the areas of mortgage, fair lending, debt collection, credit reporting, and student loan servicing. She currently leads the Consumer Rights Regulatory Engagement and Advocacy Project, which she founded in 2020 to promote inclusive public engagement in regulatory work, particularly for low-income communities and communities of color and since 2021 has been senior adviser to the director of the CFPB. This “Lessons Learned” is based on an interview with Thompson held in September 2021

Lessons Learned: Sandra Braunstein

Sandra Braunstein served as the director of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs (DCCA) at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 2004 to 2014. Braunstein’s leadership resulted in regulatory reforms in the mortgage market and the Truth in Lending Act and Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act. She helped assure the smooth transition of consumer protection responsibilities and appropriate staff from the Federal Reserve System to the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). After 27 years of service dedicated to consumer protection, Braunstein retired in 2014. This “Lessons Learned” is based on an interview with Braunstein in October 2021

Lessons Learned: Faith Schwartz

In October 2007, at the start of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), Faith Schwartz was recruited by the US Department of the Treasury to organize the Hope Now Alliance, a public-private partnership she led through 2012. Its mission was to assist homeowners looking to modify their loans and avoid foreclosure. Several of the innovations and protections Hope Now implemented became law through the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010. In 2016, Schwartz founded Housing Finance Strategies and is its chief executive officer. This “Lessons Learned” is based on an interview held with Schwartz in November 2021

Lessons Learned: John Oros

John Oros was managing director at the private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co. (JCF) during the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2009 (GFC); he is now an operating partner at the firm. In the fall of 2008, Oros worked as a senior member of the JCF team on projects involving Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and American International Group [AIG], as these firms were negotiating with lending banks, investment companies, and federal regulators to avoid collapse. Earlier in his career, Oros served as chairman of the Federal Savings and Loan Council from 1987 to 1989, during the savings and loan (S&L) crisis, when 747 S&Ls failed. This summary is based on a telephone interview conducted with Oros in May 2022