Joseph Cohen

Experience

• 

  MetLife

  Jul 1994 - Mar 2019

  During my tenure at MetLife, I was promoted eight times in legal and non-legal roles, culminating in my final role as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel.In this role, I advised on and directed all aspects of corporate law, encompassing, among other things, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), strategic distribution arrangements, reinsurance, and capital markets transactions. I regularly dealt with public company governance-related issues and presented matters to the C-suite leadership team as well as members of MetLife, Alico, and other affiliate Boards.One of my greatest accomplishments involved the spin-off of MetLife’s U.S. retail business into Brighthouse allowing MetLife to focus on protection and fee-based products / services. I orchestrated and led this extremely complex transaction (which included forming two ’34 Act reporting companies, listing Brighthouse on Nasdaq, and registering and distributing Brighthouse securities to over 2 million shareholders) through close coordination and planning across the enterprise. As part of this transaction, among other things, I drafted and negotiated the key transaction agreements (including the master separation, transition services, and registration rights agreements). Show less Following an expatriate assignment in London, I returned to the United States to direct legal advisory and support services for a wide range of transactional, financial, and corporate governance matters. During this period, I also served as Interim Chief Counsel for the General Corporate Law section.I optimized the company’s use of capital by leading several capital markets transactions (including the completion of a preferred stock refinancing and two senior notes offerings) and the divestiture of several non-core businesses in three countries in our EMEA and Asia regions. Additionally, I streamlined and restructured delegations of authorities (e.g., funding of affiliates) from the MetLife Board to management or Board Committees to balance operational efficiency with appropriate Board oversight. Show less During my expatriate assignment in London, I took on an expanded role providing legal counsel to more than 20 EMEA businesses. I restructured and grew the region’s legal team, significantly reducing the need for outside counsel and creating a consistent service experience across the region. During these two plus years, I continued to lead transactional, financial, and corporate governance matters. Two key transactions included the restructuring of MetLife’s Indian insurance joint venture (JV) (which included Punjab National Bank’s 30% acquisition and the renegotiation of all JV agreements) and the formation and IPO of a MetLife / AIG insurance JV in Saudi Arabia. Show less As Associate General Counsel providing legal counsel for MetLife's operations in the UK, Ireland, Western Europe, and India, I entered the company into strategic distribution arrangements with several third party banks and distribution partners, including Barclays, Citibank, American Express, and Punjab National Bank, as well as key outsourcing agreements for its British and Irish businesses.I relocated to London for an expatriate assignment in 2010, where I continued to lead transactional, financial, and corporate governance matters. Two key transactions included the acquisition of Alico and the negotiation of a $200M+ settlement with 97.5%+ acceptance rate from 11K+ customers of Alico subsidiary in Italy to resolve a longstanding dispute that emerged during prior ownership. Show less I started my career with MetLife as a Real Estate Attorney and quickly progressed through two Director roles to Assistant General Counsel responsible for MetLife’s non-U.S. businesses, plus its eVentures group. My contributions during my tenure in this role focused on M&A transactions. I sold businesses in three European countries to redeploy the capital to Latin America and Asia (which included the formation and purchase of a 26% interest in MetLife's Indian insurance JV). Over a period of two years, I executed $100M in strategic venture capital investments. Show less

  • Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Corporate Law, Law Department

    Jan 2016 - Mar 2019

  • Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Interim Chief Counsel, General Corporate Law

    Aug 2014 - Dec 2015

  • General Counsel, EMEA Region, Law Department

    Feb 2012 - Jul 2014

  • Associate General Counsel and Regional Head - UK, Ireland, Western Europe and India, Law Department

    Jul 2005 - Jan 2012

  • Assistant General Counsel, MetLife Businesses, Law Department

    Jul 1994 - Jun 2005
• 

  Baruch College

  Aug 2017 - Dec 2017

  Adjunct Professor (Management of Multinational Corporations (MGT 4880))
• 

  Athene

  Apr 2019 - now

  Led 25+ professionals that provides the day-to-day legal support of Athene’s full range of activities, with an emphasis on legal services related to the company’s pension risk transfer (PRT), retail annuity, funding agreement, reinsurance and investments operations as well as inorganic, corporate development and other strategic initiatives. Was also responsible for managing litigation and special projects (e.g., LIBOR transition) as well as supporting corporate governance, SEC reporting, capital markets transactions and government relations, which included directing advocacy efforts with regulators and trade associations on key industry and company-specific issues (including group capital, group supervision, asset management, business restructurings and climate change). Show less

  • Executive Vice President and General Counsel

    Feb 2023 - now

  • Senior Vice President and Group Deputy General Counsel

    Apr 2019 - Feb 2023