The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced the appointment of Michael W. Briggs as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Briggs joins MBA from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where he most recently served as Assistant General Counsel for the Consumer Law Section.
“Michael brings a rare blend of industry, trade association, private practice, and regulatory experience that will allow him to provide immediate value and leadership to MBA and our members,” said Bob Broeksmit, MBA president and CEO, in a release. “He has vast knowledge of the financial services regulatory landscape, both from within the government and from the outside.”
In his new role, Briggs will serve as MBA’s chief legal officer and is responsible for managing the legal affairs of the association and its subsidiaries and affiliates. He also will oversee the Human Resources Department and the MBA Opens Doors Foundation, MBA's 501(c)(3) foundation that provides mortgage and rental payment assistance to families with critically ill or injured children, allowing parents and guardians to be by a child's side during treatment.
Prior to joining MBA, Briggs spent a dozen years at the FDIC where he held a number of leadership roles within the Legal Division. As Assistant General Counsel for the Consumer Law Section, he led a team that delivered advice and counsel throughout the agency on a wide variety of consumer protection, real estate finance, bank supervision, enforcement, financial technology, community development, and economic inclusion matters.
Before joining the FDIC, Briggs was in private practice with Gordon Feinblatt LLC, a Baltimore law firm, where he was a member of the Financial Services practice group and represented community banks, credit unions, nonbank mortgage lenders; and the Maryland Bankers Association. He also previously served as Chief Legal Officer of America’s Community Bankers, a Washington-based trade association of community banks that later merged into the American Bankers Association. Earlier in his career, he served as Assistant General Counsel for Regulatory Affairs at Bank of America Corporation and as Regulatory Counsel for Barnett Banks, Florida’s largest banking organization prior to its merger with Bank of America.
Briggs is a former vice chair of the American Bar Association (ABA)’s Banking Law Committee and a longtime member of the ABA’s Consumer Financial Services Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, the LGBTQ Bar Association of Maryland, Women in Housing and Finance, and ALLRISE DC, an organization formed in 2019 to focus on promoting gender equity in financial services.
He earned his LL.M. degree in financial services law from Boston University School of Law. He holds a J.D. cum laude from Drake University Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida.