As compliance requirements evolve rapidly, the GC role becomes more critical for avoiding regulatory entanglements and operational risks. Increasingly, in-house legal personnel are grappling with risk assessments, internal investigations, liaisons with regulators, strategic advice to executive staff and other areas not traditionally within the GC’s domain. In-house lawyers can also play a prominent role in litigation on behalf of the industry, as in banking organizations’ lawsuit against the Federal Reserve over stress testing models. Those new and expanded responsibilities factor into the increased importance of in-house legal staff in their firms’ efforts going forward. Those points were expressed at the Compliance & Legal 2025 Annual Seminar hosted by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association in a panel moderated by Steven R. Peikin, partner at Sullivan & Cromwell and former Co-Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, which featured Cynthia B. Adams, head of U.S. legal and GC, TD Bank; Roberto Braceras, GC at Fidelity Investments; Eric F. Grossman, executive vice president and chief legal officer at Morgan Stanley; and Stefan Simon, CEO of the Americas and chief legal officer at Deutsche Bank. This article presents key takeaways from the discussion. See “Senior GCs at Leading Private Fund Managers Share Practical Tips and Insights” (Dec. 8, 2022); and “How In‑House Expertise Can Help Outside Counsel” (Feb. 24, 2022).