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Bruce E. Thompson Jr.

Vice President

With Washington on the verge of plunging into a major overhaul of the Federal tax system, no person can help clients survive and thrive better than Bruce E. Thompson Jr., a Vice President at Van Scoyoc Associates.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Thompson has worked with the fundamental actors and issues of tax and financial policy in Congress, the White House, and private business, and he has been involved in every major tax and financial debate over that time. 

He performed essential roles at the Treasury Department in the creation of the 1986 Tax Reform Act during the Reagan Presidency and worked in Congress with some of the leading legislators in tax and finance.

His government experience, tied with another 22 years as the Managing Director and Senior Director of Global Government Relations at Merrill Lynch, make Mr. Thompson the rare expert with both an insider’s and an outsider’s grasp of tax and financial policy.

It’s no wonder that The Washington Post once called him “the dean of lobbyists for the financial services industry.”

“Tax reform may not happen this year, but when it comes it’ll have an enormous impact on the economy and every company in the economy,” Mr. Thompson said.  “Smart companies are already preparing to deal with potential changes that could be traumatic.”

The exciting, but dangerous reality is that “with tax reform, you never know what may be in jeopardy,” he said.  The last time taxes were reformed, in 1986, even IRA deductions were repealed for a couple years.

Soon after graduation from Georgetown University with a degree in Finance, Mr. Thompson went to work for U.S. Sen. William V. Roth Jr. of Delaware, who became one of Congress’ legendary leaders in tax and finance.  When they met, though, they were both beginners.

“I went to work when Sen. Roth was the most junior Member on the Senate Finance Committee, and when I left, he was one of its most senior Members.  We learned together.  We grew together,” said Mr. Thompson.  He served as chief policy advisor on tax, financial, and economic issues for the Senator.

The Reagan Administration came to town in 1980 and quickly recognized Mr. Thompson’s talent.  Despite his relative youth, he became Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Legislative Affairs.  After working for both James Baker and Don Regan, Mr. Thompson would receive the Alexander Hamilton Award, Treasury’s highest honor.

“It was a very exciting time,” he said.  “Looking back, I don’t think I appreciated how exciting it was.”

The Reagan reforms reduced the overall top rate from 70 to 28 percent, and more fundamentally, established the now widely held principle that excessive taxation is economically counterproductive. 

After leaving government employment, Mr. Thompson took the lead for Merrill Lynch in dealing with legislation and government policies of interest to the financial services industry, such as financial services reform, capital gains and dividend tax rates, and the Roth IRA, named after his old boss.

The work habits developed in the Senate and the Administration continue in private practice: intensive study, careful analysis, and thoughtful results.  “I like to know the entire range of the issue before I get involved in it, and then I try to be creative, to find a fresh approach to looking at a problem,” he said.

He knows the players, but Mr. Thompson’s long association with the nuts-and-bolts of the financial industry and taxation also means that Mr. Thompson’s practice is founded on substantial technical knowledge.  “I know more than just the politics,” he said.