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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Sean Oblack
202.649.4629

Cohen to be honored for a lifetime of contributions to banking

New York – October 27, 2014 – The Clearing House announced today that it will honor Sullivan & Cromwell’s Senior Chairman, H. Rodgin Cohen, as the recipient of its 2014 Chairman’s Achievement Award.  The award recognizes a leader in the banking field whose professional contributions have positively shaped the industry throughout his or her professional career.

 Richard Davis, Chairman, President and CEO of US Bank and Chairman of The Clearing House Supervisory Board, noted that “Rodge embodies lifetime achievement and leadership in the banking industry.  He has been in the center of the action for nearly every major development within the banking sector for over four decades. Rodge’s experience, wisdom, and unparalleled expertise have significantly shaped and defined every area of the banking industry for the benefit of all banks and their customers.”

 Jim Aramanda, President and CEO of The Clearing House added, “Rodge has the respect of regulators and market participants alike, and The Clearing House is honored to recognize him for his countless contributions to the financial services industry throughout his illustrious career.”

 Mr. Cohen will receive this award at The Clearing House Annual Chairman’s Achievement Award Dinner, which will be open to the press and held on November 20 in concert with The Clearing House’s Annual Conference to be held at The Pierre in New York on November 19-21.  

Mr. Cohen’s contributions to the banking sector have touched on nearly every part of the industry.  He has provided counsel on major financial services acquisitions, ground breaking public offerings, high profile bank resolutions, corporate governance, the establishment of foreign banks’ U.S. presence, and regulatory compliance to name a few.

Mr. Cohen’s advice is also highly sought after in an advisory capacity.  He is or has been a member of the FDIC Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee, the National Security Agency Advisory Board’s (NSAAB) Emerging Technologies Panel, the Treasury Advisory Committee on the Auditing Profession and The New York State Commission to Modernize the Regulation of Financial Services. He is or has also been Vice Chairman, Economic Studies Council of Brookings Institution and a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center Financial Regulatory Reform Initiative, The Pew Financial Reform Project, the IIF Special Committee for a Strategic Dialogue for Effective Regulation and The Financial Services Roundtable’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Enhancing Competitiveness.  He has served as both an advisor and as outside counsel to The Clearing House’s boards of directors since 1974.

In addition, Mr. Cohen was a member of the Group of 30 Study Groups on Financial Institution Reporting (2003) and on Global Institutions, National Supervision and Systemic Risk (1997) and the New York Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Transnational Banking Institutions (1992). 

He is also a dedicated philanthropist. He sits on numerous charity and not-for-profit boards and has been recognized for his public service by organizations such as the Pro Bono Partnership, Legal Aid Society, Catholic Charities, Episcopal Charities, and the American Jewish Committee.  

 Mr. Cohen joined Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in 1970 following service in the U.S. Army.  He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

 He will be the third recipient of The Clearing House Annual Chairman’s Achievement Award, which was presented to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year.  Donald Kohn, former Federal Reserve Vice Chairman, was the recipient of the award in 2012.

For more information on the dinner or the Annual Conference, e-mail Sean Oblack.

 About The Clearing House Established in 1853, The Clearing House is the oldest banking association and payments company in the United States.  It is owned by the world’s largest commercial banks, which collectively hold more than half of all U.S. deposits and which employ over one million people in the United States, and more than two million people worldwide.  The Clearing House Association L.L.C. is a nonpartisan advocacy organization that represents the interests of its owner banks by promoting and developing policies to support a safe, sound and competitive banking system that serves customers and communities.  Its affiliate, The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., which is regulated as a systemically important financial market utility, owns and operates payments technology infrastructure that provides safe and efficient payment, clearing and settlement services to financial institutions, and leads innovation and thought leadership activities for the next generation of payments.  It clears almost $2 trillion each day, representing nearly half of all automated clearing-house, funds transfer and check-image payments made in the United States.  See The Clearing House’s web page at www.theclearinghouse.org.