People

Kathleen Moriarty

Kathleen Moriarty

Formal First Name
Kathleen
Nick Name
SPDR Woman
Link

Kathleen Moriarty is a Partner at Chapman and Cutler. She is a financial transaction and blockchain lawyer who has represented investment companies with the creation, structuring, and development of new exchange-traded products. Moriarty is best known as the "SPDR Woman" for her role in building the legal framework behind the world's first and largest ETF. She also represents a wide variety of market participants in connection with ETPs as well as commodity-backed derivative securities and non-investment company exchange-traded vehicles.

Professional Experience


Academic History

  • Moriarty was actively involved in the development of SPDRs. 
  • She represents U.S. and foreign entities that are developing businesses involved in the virtual currency and blockchain spaces. 
  • She advises index providers licensing their financial products to ETPs.
  • She consults with virtual currency businesses, especially with regard to securities law issues.
  • She advises funds investing in blockchain companies and virtual currencies directly, as well as entities using the blockchain to underpin a variety of uses.
  • She is regularly quoted in the media about issues relating to ETPs, financial indexes, blockchain, bitcoin, and other virtual currency-related matters.
  • She is a frequent speaker at ETP and virtual currency industry conferences and webinars.
  • She has appeared as a guest on Real Vision.
  • Honors and Awards:
    • Nate Most Award — Awarded for being the "Greatest contributor to the ETF Marketplace" (2017)
    • William F. Sharpe Indexing Lifetime Achievement Award — Awarded by The Journal of Investing (2016)
    • Financial Times — US Innovative Lawyer (2013)