GENERAL SESSION: State of the States – Navigating 2025’s Regulatory Shifts in Housing Finance

MBA's 2025-2026 MORPAC Chair; Co-Chair, Financial Services Group, Alston & Bird, LLP

Nanci Weissgold co-chairs Alston & Bird's Financial Services Group and advises financial institutions and financial service providers on federal and state matters relating to mortgage lending and mortgage servicing, valuation, and other consumer lending issues as part of her national regulatory compliance and enforcement practice. She is a frequent speaker and presenter at legal and industry conferences and webinars, and has published numerous articles on mortgage banking, valuation, and consumer finance related topics. Her pragmatism preparing for, and responding to, CFPB, FHA, state, and other administrative actions is highly valued by her clients. Nanci is co-leader of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Legal Issues Committee, and the 2025-2026 MORPAC Chair.

Deputy Commissioner of Financial Regulation, Maryland Department of Labor

Kat oversees the Office’s licensing, enforcement, and financial services supervision units, ensuring that entities and individuals offering financial services and products to Maryland consumers comply with state and federal law, and that financial service providers are held accountable for their business practices. In this role Kat coordinates with agency senior leadership, other state and federal regulators and law enforcement agencies, and oversees the operation of Financial Services initiatives. Kat brings over fifteen years of consumer protection and public policy experience to the Office of Financial Regulation. Prior to joining the Office, Kat served as an assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection Division of the Maryland Office of the Attorney General after several years as principal of Hyland Law Firm, where she assisted consumers dealing with auto fraud, mortgage fraud, debt collection issues, and student loan problems. Kat received the National Consumer Law Center’s Rising Star award in 2022 for her work to save twenty families from Christmas evictions. She served as President of the Board of Directors of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, Maryland state chair of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and board member of the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Maryland.

President & CEO, Conference Of State Bank Supervisors

Brandon Milhorn was appointed President & CEO in December 2023 by the CSBS Board of Directors. Milhorn has nearly three decades of advocacy, policy, legal, and regulatory experience, primarily in and around Washington, D.C., including five years in critical senior leadership roles with the FDIC, seven years in the private sector with Raytheon and over a decade of public service as staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, as an attorney at the CIA and in two prominent U.S. Court clerkships.

Global Chair, Financial Services, Cooley LLP

Michelle is a highly respected financial services enforcement lawyer. She is a trusted adviser to and first call for financial institutions in high-stakes litigation and enforcement matters, including government investigations, regulatory examinations, class action and complex litigation, compliance regulatory matters and internal investigations. She is known for providing thoughtful and practical advice. Michelle’s clients appreciate her deep understanding of complex regulatory issues and ability to translate those concepts into operational terms, as well as her proactive approach to problem-solving. Michelle also co-leads the firm's State AG practice, having represented clients before every state in the country, and serves on Cooley's Board of Directors.