Stephen J. Crimmins

Steve Crimmins represents clients in enforcement investigations and litigation conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other financial services regulators, as well as in private securities litigation. He also leads internal investigations and counsels on regulatory compliance, corporate governance and other SEC-related issues.

Professional Background

Mr. Crimmins practiced with the SEC for 14 years, eight of which were in senior management. As the Deputy Chief Litigation Counsel of the SEC’s Enforcement Division in Washington, D.C. from 1993 until 2001, he was one of 11 members of the Senior Executive Service at division headquarters. Mr. Crimmins co-managed a unit of 25 first-chair trial attorneys representing the SEC in hundreds of securities cases in the federal courts and in administrative proceedings. He also consulted on SEC investigations, participated actively in settlement negotiations, and served as an adviser to attorneys in SEC regional offices. Mr. Crimmins joined the SEC as a trial attorney in 1987 and continued to litigate and try cases for the agency after his promotion to senior management in 1993. He began his career at a large New York law firm after studying law at Columbia.

Since returning to the private sector in 2001, Mr. Crimmins has successfully represented public companies, directors, senior corporate officers, financial services firms and their professionals, Big Four accountants and others in a wide range of securities cases. These have included SEC matters charging financial reporting violations, insider trading, market manipulation, and violations of rules governing broker-dealers, investment advisers and investment companies. On multiple occasions he has obtained SEC “termination letters” closing investigations as to clients without enforcement action following Wells notices.

Mr. Crimmins is the Chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Securities Law Section and its Executive Council, and also the Chair of the D.C. Bar’s Committee on Broker-Dealer Regulation and SEC Enforcement. He has been recognized by “Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business” as a “key individual” for securities regulation - enforcement; by “Best Lawyers in America” for securities litigation and securities regulation; and by “Washington D.C. Super Lawyers” for securities litigation. He has testified twice before Congress on SEC matters, is regularly quoted by the national news media, speaks on CLE panels, and frequently publishes updates and articles on securities enforcement and litigation, including a forthcoming article in the Columbia Business Law Review on the shifting liability lines in insider trading cases.

Professional Leadership Activities

• Chairman, Securities Law Section and Executive Council, Federal Bar Association
• Chairman, Committee on Broker-Dealer Regulation and SEC Enforcement, District of Columbia Bar
• Editorial Advisory Board, BNA Securities Regulation & Law Report

Speaking Engagements

• "Hedge Fund Enforcement & Regulatory Developments," Practising Law Institute, New York, March 6, 2013
• “Past, Present and Future of Insider Trading: A 50th Anniversary Re-examination of Cady, Roberts and the Revolution It Began,” Symposium at Columbia Law School Center on Corporate Governance, New York, November 16, 2012
• FCPA Presentation at "Aftermath of the Financial Crisis" panel, ABA International Law Section, New York, April 19, 2012
• "PCAOB Enforcement: The First 10 Years and Looking Forward," DC Bar, March 21, 2012
• "Accountability of Independent Agencies: US and EU Experience," Maastricht University (Netherlands), February 3, 2012
• Congressional Testimony at Hearing on “Fixing the Watchdog: Legislative Proposals to Improve and Enhance the SEC,” House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, September 15, 2011
• Congressional Testimony at Joint Hearing on “Financial Management, Work Force, and Operations at the SEC,” Subcommittees of the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, March 10, 2011
• “SEC Enforcement’s New Asset Management Unit – Fresh Focus on Advisers and Funds” (panel with Unit leaders), New York City Bar Association, November 23, 2010
• “Impact of Dodd-Frank on SEC Enforcement,” New York City Bar Association, Sept. 26, 2010
• “Riding Herd on Complex Products – SEC Enforcement Launches Its Structured and New Products Unit” (panel with Unit leaders), New York City Bar Association, April 26, 2010
• “The SEC’s New Cooperation Policy: What You Need to Know to Navigate the New Guidelines” (panel with SEC enforcement deputy director), New York City Bar Association, February 23, 2010
• “SEC Enforcement Initiatives: What the Changes Mean for Counsel and their Clients” (panel with SEC New York regional director), BNA Audioconferences, Sept. 23, 2009
• “SEC Commissioners Aguilar and Campos Speak on SEC Enforcement Trends and Priorities,” DC Bar, March 18, 2009
• “FSA Investigations and Enforcement 2008,” City & Financial Conferences, London, December 3, 2008
• “Perspectives on Enforcement: A Conversation With SEC Commissioner Atkins,” DC Bar, October 28, 2008

Selected Professional Publications

• "Insider Trading: Where Is the Line?," Columbia Business Law Review (forthcoming Spring 2013)
• “New SEC Enforcement Unit Focuses On Funds And Advisers,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 42, No. 47, December 6, 2010
• “Is SEC Scrutiny Of Instant Messages On The Rise?” Ignites, October 5, 2010
• “Investor Protection Provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act,” published on the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, July 11, 2010, available at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/
• “SEC Launches New Enforcement Unit to Tackle Complex Products,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 42, No. 19, May 10, 2010. Republished in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 16, No. 6, June 2010
• “Cooperation Policy Tops Changes in SEC Enforcement Manual,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 42, No. 4, January 25, 2010. Republished in United States Law Week (BNA), Vol. 78, No. 28, February 2, 2010, in Corporate Counsel Weekly (BNA), Vol. 25, No. 5, February 3, 2010, and in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 16, No. 2, February 2010
• “Securities Regulation Under the Obama Plan,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 41, No. 26, June 29, 2009.  Republished in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 15, No. 7, July 2009
• “The SEC's Blueprint to Reinvigorate Enforcement,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 41, No. 15, April 13, 2009. Republished in Corporate Counsel Weekly (BNA), Vol. 24, No. 136, April 29, 2009, and in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 15, No. 5, May 2009 
• “A Reinvigorated SEC - Subprime, Insider Trading and Ponzi-type Frauds Are on the Table,”New York Law Journal, February 9, 2009
  Chapter 4, “Government Enforcement Response,” in Credit Market and Subprime Distress: Responding to Legal Issues  (PLI), (2008)
• “What’s Important in the SEC’s New Enforcement Manual,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 40, No. 41, October 20, 2008. Republished in abridged form in Corporate Counsel Weekly (BNA), Vol. 23, No. 42, October 29, 2008, and in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 14, No. 11, Nov. 2008
  Chapter 12, “Defending an SEC Investigation,” in Securities Investigations – Internal, Civil and Criminal (PLI) (2008)
• “Subprime Securities Litigation: Three Threshold Legal Issues,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 39, No. 49, December 24, 2007
• “Subprime Mortgage Lending: Possible Securities Litigation Exposure,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 39, No. 37, September 24, 2007
• “A New Age Dawns - International Enforcement Becoming More Cooperative and Similar to the SEC Model,” International Financial Law Review (London), February 2007
• “Sorting Out the Option Backdating Cases,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 38, No. 46, November 20, 2006. Republished in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 12, No. 12, Dec. 2006, in White Collar Crime Report (BNA), Vol. 1, No. 25, January 5, 2007, and in abridged form in Corporate Counsel Weekly (BNA), Vol. 21, No. 46, November 29, 2006
• “Where Are We Going With SEC Officer and Director Bars?” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 38, No. 17, April 24, 2006. Republished in World Securities Law Report (BNA International), Vol. 12, No. 5, May 2006, and in abridged form in Corporate Counsel Weekly (BNA), Vol. 21, No. 21, May 24, 2006
• “Will NASD’s New TCDO Power Put Its Enforcement Cases on a Fast Track?” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 36, No. 34, August 23, 2004
• “The Mutual Fund Crisis: Beginning to See a Resolution,”  Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 36, No. 8, February 23, 2004
• “Plain English Guidebook to SEC Recordkeeping and Retention,” CCH Incorporated, 2003
• “The Mutual Fund Probe: What We Can Tell So Far?”  Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 35, No. 34, November 3, 2003
• “New Administrative Proceeding Rules Create Timing Concerns for Defense Counsel,”  Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 35, No. 8, February 24, 2003
• “New SEC Certification Requirements Demand Immediate Attention by CEOs and CFOs,” Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 34, No. 27, July 8, 2002
• “SEC Resolves Long-Standing Questions About Its Cease-and-Desist Remedy,”  Securities Regulation & Law Report (BNA), Vol. 33, No. 29, July 23, 2001