A Note from the C&L Society’s Michelle Oroschakoff and John O’Connell

To those of you who joined us at the C&L Annual Seminar in San Diego, welcome back! We hope your experience was exceptional.

Each spring, our Annual Seminar gathers our industry’s leaders to learn from one another and to meet people from across the industry. The year since we were last together in person has been an extraordinary one – in the world, in the markets, and in our industry. The war in Europe has continued unabated. Inflation and the threat of recession continue to cast a shadow over the world economy, and global markets have been bumpy. We’ve seen significant volatility in the crypto-assets space, including the epic collapse of FTX. And, we’ve just seen the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history.

This year’s theme was “Discover What’s Next” – and that’s indeed what we did. Scores of speakers – representing a cross-section of experts from financial services and law firms, as well as from our most important regulators – offered insights on a broad range of forward-looking topics. Our sponsors hosted insightful Lunch & Learn sessions and our exhibitor showcase demonstrated the very latest in tools, technology, and training.

Our responsibilities as leaders include considering how we will shape and influence our industry for years to come. The SIFMA C&L Society has taken on diversity, equity and inclusion as a moral and business imperative and we are proud to have made significant steps in this evolving journey. We are challenging our thinking, creating space for collaboration, and measuring our progress – from expanding our DE&I program with an annual award to launching the LGBTQ+ reception last year. We are proud that at this year’s Annual Seminar, we increased the diversity of our panelists to approximately 50% women and 24% people of color.

Another important aspect of leadership is ensuring we have generational diversity. Our Future Leaders play an important role in the C&L Society by connecting individuals who are new to the industry and helping to grow their careers with sponsors and mentors. If this would benefit you, get in touch – we’d love to meet you.

Many of us can chart our personal and professional growth against our participation at this Seminar and through the C&L Society. It is a privilege and a pleasure to work across various legal, compliance, and risk functions in our industry to bring together colleagues who have turned into friends.

We hope to count you as one of them.

Michelle Oroschakoff 
Chief Legal Officer, LPL Financial
President, SIFMA C&L Society

 

 

John O’Connell
Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
Chair, SIFMA’s 2023 C&L Annual Seminar

 

 

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