Prior to joining Promontory, Michael served at the Department of the Treasury. As Senior Adviser to the Deputy Secretary, he assisted Treasury's second-in-command in leading an interagency committee of the National Security Council charged with developing counter-terrorist financing strategies; representing the United States in international tax disputes; and conceiving and implementing economic development initiatives in the areas of remittances, foreign direct investment, and housing. Later, as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Critical Infrastructure Protection and Compliance Policy, he was responsible for assisting in the development of regulations implementing the Patriot Act. He also served as Treasury's lead policy Deputy Assistant Secretary on renewal of the uniform national standards provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which led to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. Prior to Treasury, Michael served as Chief of Staff and Counsel to FOLIOfn, a web-based, self-clearing broker-dealer. He also was a Litigation Associate, specializing in financial services at law firm Covington & Burling, and was a clerk for Judge James L. Oakes on the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.