William C. Thum

Mr. Thum is a Managing Director and Associate General Counsel within SIFMA’s Asset Management Group (SIFMA AMG). Bill leverages a career spanning 20+ years on the sell-side and 10+ years on the buy-side and is counsel for many AMG workstreams with a particular focus on capital markets, clearing and derivatives.

Prior to joining SIFMA, Bill was a Principal at Vanguard in the Office of General Counsel where he served as global head of legal and regulatory coverage for Vanguard’s derivatives trading. While at Vanguard, Bill served in leadership roles at SIFMA AMG and ICI and was a frequent author and speaker in the US and abroad on the development and implementation of Title VII derivatives regulatory reform. A key area of Bill’s focus has been on the clearing infrastructure and protection of investor interests.  As such, Bill was appointed to the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee subcommittee on clearing and risk focusing on clearinghouse resiliency.

Prior to Vanguard, Bill was a partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, where he advised clients through the global financial crisis.  Before that, he was Executive Director and Head of Institutional Securities Documentation – Americas at Morgan Stanley, managing a legal team supporting derivatives trading.  Bill has been a long-time contributor to ISDA and worked on the drafting of ISDA’s foundational derivatives documentation.

Bill received his JD from American University, Washington College of Law and his BA in Economics and International Relations from Bucknell University. He is admitted to the bar in New York and Pennsylvania.