Securities Litigation and Arbitration

We represent public companies and their directors, officers and employees, as well as broker-dealers, investment advisers, hedge funds, alternative trading systems, accounting and legal professionals and other participants in the securities markets, in formal and informal investigations, examinations, and reviews by the SEC, FINRA and other securities industry regulators. We also regularly represent clients facing criminal investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, US Attorneys’ Offices, the FBI and state enforcement agencies. Our attorneys have extensive experience serving as defense counsel in SEC administrative proceedings, FINRA disciplinary proceedings, civil litigation in federal courts, and in related appellate litigation. We have handled investigations and proceedings involving a wide range of enforcement issues, including:

• Financial reporting and disclosure
• Market manipulation
• Accounting, financial fraud and so-called “cooking the books” cases
• Offer and sale of unregistered securities
• Brokerage firm sales, trading and underwriting practices
• Investment Adviser activities
• Potential violation of Municipal Securities Regulatory Board regulations
• Soft dollar and directed brokerage arrangements
• Excessive mark-ups and mark-downs
• Insider trading
• Best execution
• Failure to supervise
• Suitability issues, including sale of different classes of mutual funds and break-point issues
• Late trading and market timing
• Improper short-selling
• Transfer agent activities
• FINRA ACT trade reporting and Order Audit Trail System (OATS)
• Professional conduct by attorneys and accountants practicing before the SEC

We regularly represent clients in arbitration in a variety of forums including FINRA Dispute Resolution, American Arbitration Association and the National Future’s Association in both industry and customer disputes. We represent individuals and institutional investors nationwide with claims against stockbrokers, investment advisors, hedge funds, trust companies, and other securities professionals, as well as defend such claims on behalf of industry participants.

We also have been retained to conduct internal and/or independent reviews of past activities and transactions to determine compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.