Neil Barofsky '95 to join NYU Law as senior fellow

Neil BarofskyNeil Barofsky ’95 will become a senior fellow at the NYU School of Law on April 1, two days after the end of his stint as special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Barofsky, who announced his departure from TARP in February, will work with the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law and the Mitchell Jacobson Leadership Program in Law & Business, a joint program of the Law School and NYU’s Stern School of Business. Barofsky also plans to teach a Fall 2011 course on the government response to the recent financial crisis.

“With his background as a federal prosecutor, and then as chief watchdog for TARP, Neil will bring a unique perspective to a range of subjects, particularly financial crime and government regulation of the financial system,” said Dean Richard Revesz. “All of us here will benefit by having him as a teacher and a colleague.”

Barofsky called the senior fellowship a “wonderful opportunity both to teach and to more deeply examine the important issues that exist at the intersection of law, business, and government regulation.”

After spending eight years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where he oversaw the successful prosecution of top officers at Refco Inc., investigated and indicted the top 50 leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on narcotics charges, and created the Mortgage Fraud Group, Barofsky became special inspector general of TARP in December 2008. In that position, he has audited and investigated the purchase, management, and sale of assets under the $700 billion program. Barofsky issued more than 20 reports to Congress, testified before that body 20 times, and led investigations resulting in the conviction of 15 individuals and the recovery or avoidance of loss through fraud of more than $700 million.

 

Posted on March 1, 2011