Finalist: Michael Speaker

Executive Vice President, General Counsel
City National Bank
University of Virginia, School of Law

Michael Speaker is executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary of City National Bank. Speaker oversees the Legal and Corporate Administrative Group, which consists of legal and corporate governance, community reinvestment and corporate security. He joined City National in September 2019 and is a member of its Executive Committee. Speaker led attorneys working in the financial services industry, as well as advising executives in the government and private sectors. Before City National, he served as deputy general counsel at Cincinnati’s Fifth Third Bancorp, where he oversaw legal teams that supported credit, commercial and private banking. He also provided mergers and acquisitions advice, served as secretary and chief risk officer for five subsidiary boards of directors and managed nearly 200 outside counsel relationships.