Margaret Liu named General Counsel; Leonard Chanin joins as Chief Counsel to the President 

Washington, D.C. – The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) announced today that it has named Margaret Liu as General Counsel and welcomed Leonard Chanin as Chief Counsel to the President. Both appointments are effective immediately.

“I am thrilled to have Margaret and Leonard as part of the CSBS executive team,” said President and CEO Brandon Milhorn. “Their leadership and guidance will be crucial as we promote a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive financial system and expand our advocacy, technology, and training to support the states.” 

As General Counsel, Liu will lead CSBS’s legal team and provide legal and strategic counsel on all aspects of CSBS operations and advocacy. She joined CSBS in 2009 after serving as a financial services policy consultant and holding a variety of positions at Fannie Mae, including Vice President for the Single-Family Mortgage Business, Vice President for Industry Relations, and Vice President for Policy Communications. At CSBS, she has led the legislative advocacy function and served as Deputy General Counsel. Most recently, Liu held concurrent roles as Executive Vice President, Strategic Engagement, and Acting General Counsel. 

In her 15 years at CSBS, Liu served as the lead strategist in CSBS’s lawsuit against the OCC’s fintech charter and played a critical role in shaping the Dodd-Frank bill as CSBS legislative lead in 2010.

“I am very pleased that Margaret has agreed to serve as CSBS General Counsel. She is highly regarded in Washington and throughout the state system for her thought leadership, her deep knowledge of the regulatory environment, and tremendous legal and policy expertise,” said Milhorn. 

In the newly created role of Chief Counsel to the President, Chanin will coordinate strategic priorities and special projects across the organization and provide strategic counsel on all components of the CSBS mission. Chanin is a recognized expert in the field of consumer financial protection, with extensive experience in regulation and supervision of financial institutions. He comes to CSBS from Discover Financial Services where he served as Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President. Before joining Discover, Chanin served as a senior advisor to Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman, Deputy to the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Assistant Director of the Office of Regulations of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

“Leonard’s extensive financial services experience will be a tremendous asset to CSBS and the state system. His understanding of consumer protection laws and regulations and innovation policy will be particularly important as the state-regulated nonbank financial services ecosystem continues to evolve,” said Milhorn. 

Contact: Susanna Barnett, [email protected], 202-407-7156 

X: @CSBSNews 

The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) is the national organization of financial regulators from all 50 states, American Samoa, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. State regulators supervise roughly three-quarters of all U.S. banks and a variety of non-depository financial services. CSBS, on behalf of state regulators, also operates the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System to license and register non-depository financial service providers in the mortgage, money services businesses, consumer finance and debt industries.