Full Name
Charles R. Johnston
Job Title
Managing Director & Head of International Government Affairs
Company
Citigroup
Speaker Bio
Charles R. Johnston (Rick) is responsible for geopolitical analysis, issue advocacy and management of Citi's relationships with governments and political figures in more than 100 countries around the world.
Mr. Johnston is an internationally recognized expert in international trade and investment, and has advised both U.S. and foreign-government leaders as well as major multinational corporations on a
broad array of commercial and strategic transnational issues. He has provided commentary and analysis for television and press interviews worldwide as well as authoring numerous books and articles on the subject of international law and economic relations.
While practicing law, Mr. Johnston was voted by his peers as among "The Best Lawyers in America" in the field of international trade and finance. He has served as the founder and as an officer and board
member of several bilateral business associations during his career. Mr. Johnston served as an attorney adviser to a Commissioner at the U.S. International Trade Commission from 1976-78. He then served as International Trade Counsel to the Finance Committee of the United States Senate, advising senators and their staffs on international trade and investment issues as well as representing the U.S. Senate in the conduct of Congressional oversight of international trade negotiations performed by the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government. In 1980 he entered the
private practice of law, forming a partnership to specialize in international commercial and government relations issues. In 2008, Mr. Johnston joined Citi Global Government Affairs in Washington, DC. Mr. Johnston earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1970 and a Juris Doctorate degree from California Western School of Law in 1973. He received a Diploma in International Law in 1974 from Cambridge University (Fitzwilliam College), England, and was a scholarship award recipient at The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands.

Mr. Johnston has served as an adjunct professor on the subjects of international trade and international law at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and at the George Washington University National Law Center. He has written extensively on the subject of international trade and investment including the three-volume set entitled Law and Practice of United States Regulation of International
Trade. He has served on the editorial advisory committee of the American Society of International Law's "International Legal Materials" and the Board of Advisers to the George Washington International Law Review. Mr. Johnston has also served as a member of the Commercial Diplomacy Advisory Group of the American Academy of Diplomacy. Mr. Johnston currently serves as Chairman of the Executive Board of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC); Vice Chairman of the Board of the US Council for International Business (USCIB); Chairman of the Trade and Investment Committee of USCIB; and is a member of the International Policy Committee of the US Chamber of Commerce. He also has served as Chairman of the US Section of the US-Turkey Business Council (by appointment of the US Government); Co-Chair of the International Policy Committee of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association; and as Chairman or Co-Chair of various business task forces and coalitions supporting Citi and its customers’ interests in international trade and investment issues.

Mr. Johnston has three children - Kylie, Ryan and Joey.
Charles R. Johnston