Financial Institution Investigations

Overview

Inquiries and document requests from DOJ, SEC, state AGs, and other agencies pose significant risk to banks, broker-dealers, and other financial institutions. These inquiries are often sensitive, touch on important customer relationships, or potentially implicate the institution’s personnel or policies. Our team assists you in responding to these requests. We handle all aspects of investigations, from preserving documents and data, to counseling on anti-money laundering laws, to defending against SEC or DOJ inquiries and enforcement actions. We understand the difficulties inherent in responding to these inquiries, including the burden these projects place on staff at all levels. We help manage that burden by developing strategies designed to mitigate risk, manage exposure, and protect companies and individuals.

Representative experience

• Successfully assisted a U.S.-based company fully recover funds from a Hong Kong bank that had been stolen as a result of an international cyber scam
• Represented multiple cryptocurrency and blockchain technology companies in internal and SEC investigations
• Obtained dismissal of Securities and Exchange Commission’s claims in high-profile CDO/CDS case alleging securities law violations by collateral manager of $1 billion CDO
• Representing companies and individuals in the financial industries with respect to regulatory compliance, advising them in matters involving the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws and other frameworks
• Successfully represented a securities broker who was barred from FINRA; after a successful appeal to the SEC the broker’s bar was rescinded
• Obtained summary judgment for an investment banker in Rhode Island Federal Court against the SEC’s allegations of securities fraud; at issue was a $75M bond offering by the state of Rhode Island to finance a video game company, 38 Studios LLC, which was owned by former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling
• Successfully defended a financial company in an SEC probe, which was closed with no finding of any wrongdoing
• Represented a Fortune 500 company in a federal financial investigation, which was closed with no finding of wrongdoing by the company
• Handled charges of financial fraud involving a massive, years-long highway construction project
• Assisting multiple individuals/executives in FINRA investigations and regulatory matters and advising a capital market company in connection with a securities matter adverse to FINRA
• Represented global financial institution in tax evasion and anti-money laundering investigations
• Advised hedge fund, its manager, and trader in connection with SEC investigation for insider trading concerning a trade made in the hours preceding a takeover announcement; successfully obtained termination notice following written and oral testimony six months after the investigation was opened