Leland Smith

At the US Treasury Department, Leland developed frameworks to analyse Sovereign approaches to electricity generation and debt. There, Leland worked with market participants and IFIs on managing risk in infrastructure investment globally. He has also worked with municipal and regional officials on emerging market economic development.

At Royal Dutch Shell, Leland’s work on the Trading floor and in project management assisted integration between upstream operations and global markets. Leland was the primary point of contact and lead partner for multiple oilfield facilities projects involving hiring and overseeing outside engineering, construction, and finance teams. At Shell Trading, Leland worked closely with financial market counterparties to minimize risk. He also led the operational aspects of railroad, pipeline, and barge delivery obligations for several key crude oil grades.

Leland’s research has focused on systemic financial risk, infrastructure development, and economic growth. He has contributed to textbooks on International Banking Regulation and considerations for commodity-exporting Sovereigns. He advised former senior IMF economists on legal considerations regarding the intersection between law and macroeconomics. He studied sovereign solvency law under a former IMF General Counsel and banking solvency under the practitioner in charge of the US Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).