Noah J. Hanft is General Counsel and Chief Franchise Officer for MasterCard Worldwide. In this capacity, he is responsible for overseeing legal affairs and public policy as well as Payment Systems Integrity and Franchise Development. Mr. Hanft serves as a member of the company’s Executive Committee. Since first joining MasterCard in 1984, Mr. Hanft has held positions of increasing responsibility within the Law Department, including that of Senior Vice President, U.S. Counsel and Assistant General Counsel. He briefly left MasterCard from 1990 to 1993 to become Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel of AT&T Universal Card Services, where he successfully defended numerous legal and regulatory challenges initiated against AT&T’s start-up credit card operation. Mr. Hanft was previously associated with the intellectual property law firm of Ladas & Parry in New York. He began his career as a trial attorney in the criminal defense division of the Legal Aid Society. Mr. Hanft has a master of laws degree from New York University School of Law in trade regulations, a doctor of jurisprudence degree from Brooklyn Law School, and a bachelor’s degree from American University, School of Government and Public Administration. Mr. Hanft serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society.
