
Broker-Dealers
Our Broker-Dealer Compliance and Regulatory practice group is comprised of seasoned veterans of the financial services industry, including former staff members of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and practitioners from well-known financial services firms.
Drawing on the team’s cross-disciplinary experience, we regularly advise a broad range of leading sell-side institutions, including retail and institutional broker-dealers, clearing firms and prime brokers, alternative trading system operators, proprietary and high-frequency trading firms, full-service investment banks, and M&A advisory firms. We also advise banks, private investment funds, insurance companies, and investment advisers on a variety of broker-dealer regulatory issues, and assist dual-registrants and affiliated entities of broker-dealers in complying with their regulatory obligations.
Collectively, our lawyers have appeared before every state securities commission in the United States, as well as before the SEC, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and other self-regulatory organizations, including NYSE, Nasdaq, Cboe, and MIAX. As part of the firm’s Asset Management and Investment Funds practice and global Financial Services industry group , we are strategically positioned to assist broker-dealers and a variety of financial market participants in navigating US securities market structure, negotiating and interacting with broker-dealers, and novel regulatory and trading issues.
Our team has experience facing a multitude of issues, including:
- Acquisition and due diligence
- Advertising and marketing compliance
- Affiliated entity fund distribution models
- Alternative trading systems and direct market access
- Anti-money laundering
- Bank and broker-dealer activities (United States)
- Broker-dealer status issues, including with respect to finders and solicitors and the issuer exemption
- Capital markets transactional and investment banking
- Clearing and prime brokerage
- Dual employee arrangements
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
- Formation, registration, and continuing membership
- Information barriers
- Internal audits and supervisory reviews
- Offshore capabilities
- Policy issues
- Regulatory and compliance
- Regulatory inquiries and investigations
In addition to advising traditional firms, our Broker-Dealer Compliance and Regulatory practice group lawyers also advise investment advisers, fintech firms, and other financial market participants on a range of complex issues related to the broker-dealer regulatory framework, including triggers that would require a firm to register with the SEC, digital asset security and cryptocurrency trading issues, crowdfunding in the private and public securities markets, and cross-border issues.
Legal 500
Ranked by The Legal 500 United States for Financial Services Regulation: Banking, 2025
Ranked by The Legal 500 United States for Financial Services Regulation: Broker-Dealers, 2024