Business Law Program

On Thursday, October 13, 2022, WCL’s Business Law Program and the Digital Asset Law Project hosted a hybrid event on new virtual currency regulations and the way forward in navigating this newly charged yet unclear financial and regulatory space.

On April 1, 2022, Brown Rudnick LLP, sponsored a panel at Paris Arbitration Week on “Blockchain Arbitration and the Resolution of Cryptocurrency Disputes.” Featured among the key speakers was Professor Gerard Comizio, Associate Director of the American University Business Law Program, who spoke on the different Legal, Regulatory & Law Enforcement Concerns regarding virtual currency and the various government legal/regulatory responses.

On March 21, 2022, Professor Hilary Allen joined the Business Law Program (BLP) for a discussion on her new book, “Driverless Finance: Fintech’s Impact on Financial Stability.” The conversation was introduced by was Professor David Snyder, Director of the BLP, and moderated by Professor Gerard Comizio, Associate Director of the BLP.

On March 17, 2022, Dr. Björn Arp, a Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the American University Washington College of Law Center on International Commercial Arbitration, interviewed Professor Gerard Comizio, Associate Director of the Business Law Program (BLP), about his new book, Virtual Currency Law: the Emerging Legal and Regulatory Framework. The conversation was hosted Program for International & Comparative Law Studies (ICLS) and the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Law Society (BCLS).

On March 7, 2022, the International Centre for Parliamentary Studies, a leading international research institution promoting effective policy making and good governance, hosted its annual Public Policy Exchange conference on “Regulating Cryptocurrencies: Protecting Investors and Mitigating Environmental Damage.” Featured among the key speakers was Professor Gerard Comizio, Associate Director of the American University Business Law Program, who spoke on Crypto’s Trajectory: The Emerging Legal and Regulatory Framework and Challenges-and the Ukraine Invasion.

On Wednesday, June 29, 2022, WCL’s Business Law Program hosted a virtual symposium on the “CFPB’s New Approach to Discrimination: Invoking UDAAP Laws.” With an introduction by Professor V. Gerard Comizio, Associate Director of the Business Law Program, the symposium began with a Q&A with Eric Halperin, Assistant Director of the CFPB and head of its Office of Enforcement. Mr. Halperin discussed the CFPB’s priority to ensure a financial marketplace that is free from discrimination and where all people have equal access to financial products.

American University Washington College of Law’s Business Law Program is pleased to announce that it once again received the top A+ ranking for Business Law from preLaw Magazine in its new rankings for Fall 2021, joining Harvard Law and a select group of leading law school business law programs for the second year in a row in preLaw’s rankings.

Please join the Tech, Law & Security and Business Law programs at American University Washington College of Law for this series of conversations with leading experts on combating the growing threat ransomware poses to businesses, individuals, and the Nation’s security.

On October 13, 2021, the American Banker, a leading national publication covering U.S. and international financial industry featured an article titled “Is modernizing the National Bank Act the answer to fintech charter woes?” that included an interview with Professor Gerard Comizio, associate director of the American University Business Law Program, and other financial regulatory experts.

As part of American University's Washington College of Law Annual Alumni Reunion Weekend events, on Friday September 24, 2021, the Business Law Program hosted a roundtable discussion with three WCL alums who are legal leaders in the exploding virtual currency and blockchain industry.

On Wednesday, June 30, Associate Professor Hilary Allen testified before a House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Hearing on “Addressing Climate as a Systemic Risk: The Need to Build Resilience within Our Banking and Financial System.” The hearing, held in a hybrid format, featured experts from different parts of the financial sector who addressed climate-related financial challenges.

On Thursday, May 20, 2021, AUWCL faculty and WCL’s Business Law Program hosted “Talking Fintech with Benjamin Lawsky, Former Superintendent, New York Department of Financial Services.” With an introduction by Professor V. Gerard Comizio, Associate Director, Business Law Program, and moderated by Professor Hilary J. Allen, the conversation covered the hottest topics in fintech today, including fintech regulation, the sector’s impact on financial industry culture, the use of technological tools for regulatory compliance, cybersecurity vulnerabilities in fintech business models, and more.

On Tuesday, March 2, American University Washington College of Law hosted an interview with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester M. Peirce and AUWCL faculty on the exciting developments under the federal securities laws governing financial technology and virtual currency.

The Business Law Program at American University Washington College of Law is pleased to announce an innovative Compliance and Ethics Certificate (CEC).  Covering one of the fastest growing areas of business law,  the Compliance and Ethics Certificate enables students with a special interest in business law to earn a certificate that provides a core competency and a deeper understanding of compliance laws and regulations. Students will learn how to adopt and implement successful corporate compliance strategies as they acquire knowledge and skills in the legal, regulatory, and ethical framework undergirding compliance.

AUWCL's Business Law Faculty hosts a virtual panel discussion on upper-level business law courses.

Furthering the Business Law Program’s mission of providing cutting-edge course opportunities across emerging business law sectors, associate director of the Business Law Program Professor Jerry Comizio will teach a two-credit Virtual Currency course in the Spring 2021 semester. It will be one of the first law school courses in the country devoted to exploring the emerging legal and regulatory framework governing virtual currency activities.

On Thursday, Oct. 22, American University Washington College of Law hosted Gov. Sarah Bloom Raskin for an interview on economic and financial regulatory policies.

American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL) and the Business Law Program congratulate V. Gerard (Jerry) Comizio on his new position as associate director of the Business Law Program. Comizio is a leading authority on financial services regulatory, transactional, and compliance matters. He has extensive experience in representing a wide range of financial services companies, including both domestic and foreign banking organizations, non-bank financial institutions, fintech companies, digital currency exchanges and private equity firms engaged in covered fund, merchant banking, and so-called 4(c)(6) activities.

On Thursday, March 5, 2020, Mr. Stephen Gardner (‘91) joined students for lunch and a conversation on the global practice of business law. Mr. Gardner is an alumnus of the Washington College of Law and is the current Chief Counsel for the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) within the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Jason Schwartz ’09 was drawn to law school out of an interest in analytical thinking and a quest for job security after graduating as an English major at NYU in ’05. Ten years into his practice as a tax attorney in Cadwalader’s Washington, D.C office, Schwartz distills complex language into advice for clients. He recently received one of the best compliments a tax lawyer could get after publishing a practice portfolio on the taxation of collateralized loan obligations. “A non-tax lawyer called me and said, ‘You wrote everything that tax lawyers have been trying to tell me for the last 10 years but in English.’”