US Treasury’s Ruth Madrigal joins Steptoe

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US Treasury’s Ruth Madrigal joins Steptoe

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Ruth Madrigal has joined Steptoe & Johnson as a partner in the tax group in the Washington office.

Madrigal has spent the past six years at the US Treasury department’s office of tax policy, where she served as the exempt organisations (EO) attorney and policy adviser. While at Treasury, Madrigal drafted regulations and other administrative guidance relating to the tax-exempt sector, including Treasury guidance on programme-related investments and other types of mission-related investments, updated rules facilitating foreign grant making, and new regulations detailing requirements for tax-exempt hospitals. She also contributed to legislative proposals relating to charitable organisations and charitable giving, and represented the department in public hearings and in meetings with other federal agencies, foreign governments, Congress, and state regulators.

At Steptoe, Madrigal will build upon the firm’s tax-exempt organisations practice, led by Suzanne McDowell and Catherine Wilkinson.

Madrigal previously worked in private practice at Caplin & Drysdale, where she advised EOs on a broad range of issues, including entity choice, private foundation rules, intermediate sanctions, unrelated business activities, and reporting and governance issues. She also worked at Irell & Manella, advising on tax and corporate transactions.

Steptoe is the second US firm in recent days to announce the hire of a former government official, as firms get ready for a year of tax action under President-elect Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20.

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