HomeLeslie Rahl

Expert resume of Leslie Rahl

Founder and CEO of Capital Market Risk Advisors; derivatives pioneer and former co-head of Citibank’s Derivatives Group in North America; former Director of ISDA; significant consulting and testifying expert experience in US, UK and Canada

Leslie is the Founder and CEO of Capital Market Risk Advisors (CMRA), a pre-eminent risk management firm which has provided consulting and litigation support services for over 25 years. Leslie has over 45 years of financial services experience and 35 years of derivatives experience. She has run a $50+ billion derivatives business and a team of 50; managed financial operations with 250+ employees; and served on the Boards of several financial institutions, pension/endowment funds, and industry groups.

Leslie has advised more than 75 clients in arbitration/litigation on both liability and damages issues and has advised more than 250 clients in 6 continents on non-dispute related derivatives, valuation, risk management, and risk governance issues. Her practice is balanced between sharing her expertise with clients who are trying to avoid/solve problems and those who are litigating/investigating problems, making her uniquely qualified to provide advice and testimony.

Leslie has served on the Boards of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Fannie Mae, the MIT Investment Management Company, the Global Risk Institute, the International Association of Quantitative Finance, and the New York State Common Fund Retirement Board.

From 1987-1989, Leslie chaired the ISDA Committee responsible for drafting the original ISDA Master Agreement. She has personally reviewed more than 1,000 ISDA Master Agreements and related schedules, and has been involved in dozens of terminations of derivative transactions (both consensual and in Events of Default) involving in excess of 50,000 trades.

Leslie led trading operations through the market turmoil of both Drexel’s descent into bankruptcy and Black Monday and has been involved in many of the investigations and commercial disputes arising from financial meltdowns since, including but not limited to: Askin Capital; Orange County; Bankers Trust; “Asian flu” and the Russian Ruble Crisis; subprime and quant crises of 2007; CDO/CDS crisis of 2007/2008; and Lehman.

Leslie has written three books on risk management/risk governance and her articles have appeared in a wide range of publications. She has been quoted in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Financial Times.

Leslie was named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance by Treasury and Risk magazine in June 2010, one of the Top 50 Women in Finance by Euromoney in 1997, and was profiled in both the fifth and tenth anniversary issues of Risk Magazine. She was listed in “Who’s Who in Derivatives” by Risk Magazine and was profiled in Fortune’s “On the Rise” and Institutional Investor’s “The Next Generation of Financial Leaders.”

Leslie received her undergraduate degree from MIT in 1971 and an SM/MBA from the Sloan School at MIT in 1972.