Securities Enforcement Defense

Attorneys in Day Pitney's Securities Enforcement Defense practice have extensive experience defending clients in investigations by the SEC, FINRA and other self-regulatory organizations (SROs), and the various states attorney general's offices and securities divisions. Our attorneys, who include a former SEC enforcement official, a former US Attorney, and former Assistant US Attorneys, also have extensive experience representing clients in parallel criminal investigations by the Department of Justice.

Enforcement Defense

We have defended institutional and individual clients in connection with securities enforcement investigations involving a wide range of subject matters, including:

• Accounting and Financial Disclosure Fraud 
• Insider Trading
• Hedge Fund Fraud
• Market Manipulation and Other Trading Abuses
• Subprime MBS, ABS, CDO, and CDS
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
• Research Analyst Conflicts and Disclosures
• Investment Adviser Fraud
• Auditor Negligence and Secondary Liability
• Broker-Dealer Operations
• Fixed Income Sales and Trading Practices
• Mutual Fund "Market Timing" and "Late Trading"
• Registration of Securities, Broker-Dealers, and Investment Advisers

We have demonstrable success in convincing regulators not to institute enforcement actions against our clients, including on numerous occasions persuading SEC and FINRA staff through the "Wells Submission" process to reverse their preliminary determinations to recommend enforcement action.  We also have assisted clients in reaching favorable settlements with regulators to avoid litigation and the attendant risks, expense and adverse publicity. Where settlement has not been possible or desirable, our clients have benefited from our considerable experience handling civil and administrative proceedings and appeals. 

Special Projects

Based on their reputation for excellence and integrity, the attorneys in our Securities Enforcement practice are regularly called upon by courts, regulators, and regulated entities to perform special consulting projects, including:

• Appointment by a federal district court to serve as the Distribution Agent in a $50,000,000 "Fair Fund" distribution to investors harmed by a public company's financial disclosure fraud
• Appointment by the SEC to serve as the Plan Administrator to monitor a $50,000,000 "Fair Fund" distribution to investors harmed by a broker-dealer's non-disclosure of conflicts of interest in the sale of mutual funds
• Appointment by a NYSE specialist firm as the designated Independent Consultant pursuant to settlements with the SEC and NYSE of specialist "interpositioning" cases, to review the firm's existing compliance procedures and recommend improvements thereto
• Appointment by a NYSE specialist firm to serve as the "Independent Third Party Auditor" pursuant to NYSE Rule 104(h), to conduct a review of all specialist systems employing algorithms and all specialist trading algorithms to ensure that they operated in accordance with SEC and NYSE rules 
• Appointment by the Department of Justice to serve as the Monitor of an international bank for a three-year period in connection with the Enron prosecutions, to monitor implementation of agreements reached among the bank, the DOJ, and other domestic and foreign government regulatory entities
• Retention by broker-dealer to revise its Written Supervisory Procedures as a result of deficiencies noted by FINRA during a TMMS examination
• Retention by various leading technology vendors to publish White Papers and conduct webinars and seminars concerning the electronic recordkeeping and supervisory review rules applicable to broker-dealers