Our Regulatory Enforcement group represents corporate and individual clients in connection with investigations conducted by various federal and state regulatory agencies.
We have represented clients in investigations conducted by virtually every significant federal agency, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodities Futures Trading Commission, Federal Reserve, Fair Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Elections Commission, and Federal Aviation Administration. We also have extensive experience with state regulators, including the Offices of the New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut Attorneys General, as well as self-regulatory organizations, including FINRA and the New York Stock Exchange.
Our Paris team has significant experience in investigation, control, and sanction proceedings before French authorities, such as the French financial market authority (AMF), the banking authority (ACPR), and the French National Commission on Informatics and Liberty (CNIL – Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés).
Our U.S. and French offices seamlessly work together to provide assistance on matters relating to international cooperation procedures between regulators, including the SEC and AMF, and in cross-border investigations led by the U.S. Department of Justice.
When representing our clients in active regulatory investigations, we have effectively employed varying strategies. These include aggressive advocacy to avoid litigation, including extensive experience with the SEC Wells process and AMF-type settlement agreements, the comprehensive defense at trial of civil litigation brought as a result of a regulatory investigation, and, where appropriate, providing active cooperation with and assistance to regulators.
We are also engaged in compliance counsel roles, in which we are available to address real-time securities law compliance concerns, and we frequently offer advice in connection with securities issues.