Olin L. Wethington
 Olin L. Wethington  | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1948 |
| Nationality | US |
| Alma mater | Harvard Law School, University of Pennsylvania |
| Member of | Atlantic Council, Council on Foreign Relations/Members 3, International Republican Institute/Board and Staff |
Olin L Wethington is on the board of directors of the NATO-think-tank Atlantic Council, and on board of directors of the regime change organization International Republican Institute. He was director of economic policy for the Coalition Provisional Authority during the US occupation of Iraq.
Overview
Olin Wethington is the founder and chairman of Wethington International LLC, an investment and business advisory firm focused on advising institutions on capital investment, financial structure, and business strategy in emerging markets. Wethington is also the executive director of the Project on Shaping the Asia-Pacific Future at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, as well as a nonresident senior fellow of the Center and a Director on the Atlantic Council Board.
He was previously chairman, AIG Companies in China, and was a partner at the elite law firm Steptoe & Johnson in Washington DC.
Wethington has also held a number of positions in the US government, including: special envoy on China in 2005; counselor to the secretary of the US Treasury; assistant secretary for international affairs, US Treasury; special assistant to the president and executive secretary, Economic Policy Council, White House (under President George H.W. Bush).
He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the board of trustees of the George C. Marshall Foundation, and the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democracy subcontractor International Republican Institute since 2006.
Iraq occupation
He was director of economic policy for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, Iraq[1] in the period 2003-2004, abolishing Iraq's ban on foreign investment, allowing foreigners (i.e. US corporations) to own up to 100% of all sectors except natural resources. For eight months he was the senior Treasury official on banking, finance and economic matters, including the effort to build the capacity of the Central Bank and Finance Ministry of Iraq.[2] This happened during conditions of massive corruption.[3]
In addition the sell off and changes were illegal under international law, where an occupying power is prohibited from rewriting the laws of the occupied country[4]
