Biography
Dalia O. Blass
blassd@sullcrom.com
Washington, D.C. Office
+1 202 956 7594
New York Office
+1 212 558 4386
Partner since 2023
Columbia Law School, J.D. 1999
The American University, B.A. 1993
Dalia Blass is the Senior Investment Management Partner and a partner in S&C’s Financial Services
Group. Her practice focuses on providing strategic and regulatory advice to asset managers, registered
and private funds, fund boards and their service providers across the range of regulatory, governance,
compliance, examination and enforcement matters they face. She has a unique and deep expertise in
the intricate legal, risk and compliance issues raised by existing and new regulation under the
Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act, including with respect to the design and
structuring of innovative fund products and addressing challenging governance matters. Her leadership
in these areas support clients as they navigate the increasingly complex global, federal and state
regulatory landscape facing asset managers.
Ms. Blass joined the Firm in 2023 from BlackRock, where she was Senior Managing Director, Global Head
of External Affairs and a member of BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee. At BlackRock she led
teams that managed the firm’s key regulatory, policy and reputational challenges and opportunities,
including with respect to the firm’s sustainability priorities.
Prior to BlackRock, Ms. Blass served as the Director of the Division of Investment Management at the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under her leadership, the Division of Investment
Management finalized more than 70 regulatory initiatives to modernize the regulatory framework for
investment companies and investment advisers, improve the investor experience through modernized
disclosure and outreach efforts, elevate the standards of conduct for financial professionals, and reevaluate the role and responsibilities of fund boards of directors. Ms. Blass was a member of the SEC’s
senior-level COVID-19 Market Monitoring Group and contributed to the staff’s report on the U.S. Credit
Markets Interconnectedness and Effects of the COVID-19 Economic Shock. She also co-chaired the
Financial Stability Board’s Technical Experts Group on Money Market Funds. A summary of Division of
Investment Management Activities under Ms. Blass is available here.
Ms. Blass previously served in a number of leadership roles in the Division of Investment Management
for a total of 14 years at the SEC. She has received the SEC’s Distinguished Service Award and the
Manuel F. Cohen Award and was also named in Barron’s inaugural list of the 100 Most Influential
Women in U.S. Finance.
She is a member of the Governing Board of the Center for Audit Quality and head of the Board’s
nominating and governance committee.