Mitchell Silk

About Mitchell Silk

Mitchell leads group legal, regulatory and compliance and transaction management, and participates in strategic planning for a diverse investment platform focussed primarily in the metals mining and spirits sectors.He formerly served as Assistant Secretary for International Markets at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In that role, he advanced U.S. interests on financial stability and regulatory issues, while promoting growth, particularly through global energy and infrastructure financing agreements, and advocating for standards that level the playing field for U.S. firms. He played a senior role in the trade negotiations with China, and reform and oversight of OPIC/DFC and the US Exim Bank. Mitchell designed a large inter-agency growth initiative that assists partners of the United States unleash value in their energy and infrastructure sectors by identifying impactful and scaled investment opportunities that will rely on private capital solutions. He also designed and implemented the $94 billion CARES Act programs to assist aviation businesses that benefitted over American workers.After Treasury, he served as Senior Advisor to the President of the World Bank Group advancing private capital mobilization in global energy and infrastructure, and Vice Chairman of Hudson Sustainable Group, a pioneer in transitional energy and sustainable infrastructure investment.During his 30 year legal career, Mitchell developed deep expertise in real assets matters, asset management, banking and finance, and China and Asia, as well as growth capital matters involving technology with disruptive applications in energy and infrastructure. He advised on many landmark project financings in a number of sectors, as well as on major wind, solar, gas, coal and nuclear power, water, mining and transportation projects, real estate acquisitions, and financings in the U.S, Asia, Latin America, Caribbean and Africa. He also has considerable private investment funds experience and as fund counsel to numerous sponsors on the structuring, formation, marketing and financing of a number of international real assets funds. Mr. Silk also specialized in advising foreign financial institutions in their strategic expansion in the U.S. and globally and their on-going operations, including advising on cross-border acquisition financing in the US and complex regulatory, AML, financing and corporate issues.

Experience

1. Visiting Professor

   National Chengchi University

   Jan 2023 — Present · Taipei, TW

   Inaugural Professor in new MSc. Program in Global Banking and Finance at the College of Global Banking and Finance. Course offerings:The United States Regulation of Financial Institutions and Finance covering the the basic policies and tools that regulators use to ensure a sound and stable commercial banking system, stemming illicit finance through anti-money laundering legislation and regulation, how US regulation has approached financial innovation (including a deep dive into the policy and regulatory aspects of cryptocurrency, digital assets and blockchain technology) and an overview of two key areas relating to the new age of digital banking: free data flows and the intersection of cybersecurity and financial regulation.Project Finance — Theory, Policy and Practice covering the basics of limited recourse project financing by defining the concept of “Project Financing”, introducing the key players and funding sources and typical structures utilized in these transactions, infrastructure finance from the standpoint of government policymakers, the critical role of International Financial Institutions (including the World Bank Group, Multilateral Development Banks, Development Finance Corporations and Export Credit Agencies) and understanding how market standards emerge in equitable risk allocation, the role and importance of local bank financing in project finance, the importance of equitable allocation of risk and rational and reasonable pricing in all aspects of project development and financing and how project finance markets respond to the changing landscape of energy and infrastructure growth and development.

Education

• Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service

  BSFS

  1981 — 1983

• Peking University

  Certificate in Advanced Studies in Law, Law

  1986 — 1987

• University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

  Doctor of Law (JD)

  1983 — 1986

• Middlebury College

  Summer School of Chinese

  1979 — 1979

Skills

• Dispute Resolution
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Joint Ventures
• Legal Advice
• Corporate Law
• Private Equity
• International Law
• Cross-Border Transactions