Mark T. Williams

Executive-in-Residence/Master Lecturer, Finance

Expertise:
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Education:

MBA, Boston University School of Management, Finance, 1993
BS, University of Delaware, Finance, 1985

Contact Info:

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Mark T. Williams is a risk-management practitioner and academic with three decades of experience.  Since 2002, he has been on the Finance Faculty at Boston University, teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and currently holds the academic rank of Executive-in-Residence/Master Lecturer.  Previously, he worked as a senior trading floor executive, a bank trust officer… Read more

Mark T. Williams is a risk-management practitioner and academic with three decades of experience.  Since 2002, he has been on the Finance Faculty at Boston University, teaching at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and currently holds the academic rank of Executive-in-Residence/Master Lecturer.  Previously, he worked as a senior trading floor executive, a bank trust officer and as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank.  His areas of expertise include risk management in banks, hedge funds and other investment companies; Fed monetary policy; corporate governance; business ethics; banking trading fraud and compensation practices; pension investments, return assessment and fraud prevention; energy commodities risk assessment; precious metals trading; financial literacy for young adults; and financial technology (Fintech), including virtual currencies and blockchain.

In addition to his teaching duties his expertise is called on frequently by national media. He has also been a guest columnist for the Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters.com, Forbes.com, The Boston Globe, Foreign Policy magazine and The New York Times. In 2010 he published Uncontrolled Risk (McGraw Hill), a book examining the root causes of the financial crisis and the rise and fall of investment banking giant Lehman Brothers. In 2014 he provided Congressional Testimony on the risks associated with virtual currencies. He also presented on virtual currencies to The World Bank and at The Bretton Woods Committee in 2015. More recently, he co-authored a report about the growing risks associated with the MBTA pension.

Outside of academics, he conducts risk management seminars, has provided consulting for various Fortune 500 companies, and is a senior advisor at The Brattle Group. On several occasions, he has also been an expert witness in various corporate cases involving risk management matters.

In the Media

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  • Will This Bitcoin Opposite Be Accepted by Investors?

    May 7, 2018

    Thirty K Mark Williams Bitcoin shouldered its way into the currency world promising users anonymity and the ability to operate outside the reach of central banks and other authorities… Expert quote: “Saga ignores the fact that speculative investors are attracted to cryptos for their higher volatility and benefits of secrecy,”  View article here

  • Two sides to Bitcoin investment

    April 21, 2018

    Today Mark Williams Boom. Bust. Boom. Bust. If you want volatility, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin deliver it daily… Expert Quote: “Do your homework first, understand your personal risk tolerance, and if interested, commit only an amount of money that you are willing to lose. For risk-adverse investors, stick with traditional stock and bond investing.” View […]

  • SEC’s Harsher Look Could Put Damper on ICO Activity

    April 16, 2018

    Thirty K Mark Williams Under the increasingly harsher scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission, some experts now say the initial coin offerings market could face a precipitous downturn… Expert quote: “The SEC has certainly put a wet blanket over prospects for ICOs in 2018.” View full article

  • IHeart and Toys R Us take different paths in bankruptcy

    March 19, 2018

    The Boston Globe Mark Williams IHeartMedia and Toys R Us are two old-economy businesses with leading positions in their respective industries, as well as billions of debt largely due to private equity ownership, and Boston investment firm Bain Capital had a stake in both of them… Expert quote: “Taking half that debt away will increase […]

  • Bankruptcy may be the next step for big radio station chain iHeartMedia

    March 11, 2018

    Boston Globe Mark Williams It was a big bet on the future of radio, but an ill-timed one… Expert quote: “It’s going to be a business school case study of what not to do in a leveraged buyout. They took on an unhealthy amount of debt, much higher than average . . . What they did is […]

  • GE’s chief executive opens the door to breaking up the company

    January 18, 2018

    The Boston Globe Mark Williams Could the sun finally be setting on the General Electric empire… Expert quote: “Their commitment was made earlier, when they were in a stronger position financially. There’s more and more news coming out that demonstrates that maybe what Boston thought they were going to get is not what they’re going […]

  • Bitcoin soars above $17,000, boosting worries and a worldwide frenzy

    December 9, 2017

    Sentinel Source Mark Williams Bitcoin soared past the $17,000 mark on Thursday, a dizzying run for a digital currency that was worth less than $1,000 at the start of the year and was once largely the preoccupation of technologists or those looking to avoid scrutiny to launder money or buy drugs and weapons online… Expert […]

  • Who’s buying bitcoin?

    December 8, 2017

    Boston Herald Mark Williams Bitcoin, the volatile cryptocurrency, is the new gold rush… View full article

  • Bitcoin soars above $17,000, boosting worries and a worldwide frenzy

    December 7, 2017

    The Washington Post Mark Williams Bitcoin soared past the $17,000 mark on Thursday, a dizzying run for a digital currency that was worth less than $1,000 at the start of the year and was once largely the preoccupation of technologists or those looking to avoid scrutiny to launder money or buy drugs and weapons online… […]

  • Bitcoin spikes to a new record — again. Will it ever come down?

    December 7, 2017

    Boston Globe Mark Williams Is there anything that can stop bitcoin’s runaway price… Expert quote: “I think it’s as simple as folks don’t want to be left out. Something that can go up this fast can also go down equally as fast. That’s what a mania is. Now it’s just a question of how high will […]

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