Charles M. Steele Named Deputy Chief Counsel

WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced Charles M. Steele as the agency’s Deputy Chief Counsel.

Mr. Steele will supervise the Administrative and Internal Law, Community and Consumer Law, Enforcement and Compliance, and Litigation divisions. He also will supervise the district counsel staffs in the OCC’s Southern District and Western District offices. Mr. Steele assumed his duties today.

“Charlie’s broad and varied legal experience in the public and private sectors, together with his knowledge of Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering regulations, will contribute significantly to our Law Department’s ability to provide high quality support and expert legal advice,” said Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry.

Prior to joining the OCC, Mr. Steele was Counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell in the Financial Institutions Group, with a focus on economic sanctions, anti-money laundering and anti-bribery enforcement, compliance and regulatory issues, as well as transaction reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. Previously, he was a Managing Director in the Forensic Advisory Services practice at KPMG LLP, advising on economic sanctions, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery, and fraud matters.

Mr. Steele’s federal government career includes serving as Associate Director for Enforcement of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and as Deputy Director of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. He also served in senior roles in the National Security Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, as Chief of Staff to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and as FBI Deputy General Counsel. Mr. Steele began his federal legal career in U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the District of Arizona and the District of Columbia, holding positions as Assistant U.S. Attorney and head of the white collar crime section in Arizona.

Mr. Steele received his juris doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center.