REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE
Stavroula E. Lambrakopoulos
SEC, FINRA AND GOVERNMENT ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATIONS AND LITIGATION
Defend public companies, officers, broker-dealers, investment advisers, cryptocurrency issuers and exchanges, and investment companies in SEC enforcement investigations relating to: allegations of securities fraud; market manipulation; revenue recognition and accounting practices; unregistered securities offerings, failure to supervise issues; BSA/AML compliance; and insider trading. A number of these investigations resolved with no enforcement action by the SEC.
Represent hedge funds and their investment advisers in investigations by SEC Asset Management Unit on a variety of issues including allegations of insider trading, improper valuation of portfolios, cherry-picking of trade allocations, breaches of fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, and in issues arising out of participation in PIPEs investments.
Represented registered investment adviser in connection with SEC investigation arising from disclosures relating to liquidation of mutual funds, resulting in settlement based on negligence-based violation of Section 34(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Won summary judgment in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on behalf of hedge fund investment adviser and managers on claims brought by the SEC under the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 relating to valuation of the fund’s portfolio and alleged misrepresentations in stock purchase agreement.
Represented a multinational energy company in SEC investigation focused on potential securities fraud violations by a related entity and obtained declination.
Defended global manufacturing publicly traded company in SEC investigation involving non-GAAP financial disclosures, resulting in negligence-based administrative cease and desist order.
Represented public company in SEC investigation arising from delayed or incorrect reporting of beneficial ownership by its officers and directors, resulting in a settlement based on violations of Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Obtained declination for a global publicly traded manufacturing and chemicals company in SEC investigation that was part of the SEC’s cross-industry EPS Initiative and arose out of the company’s performance in meeting or exceeding analyst expectations of its quarterly earnings per share (“EPS”).
Defended trial of administrative proceeding before SEC Administrative Law Judge relating to market manipulation and supervision matters.
Defended large financial institution in SEC high-yield bond investigation of its investment banking and retail divisions and obtained declination.
Represented cryptocurrency issuer in cross-border investigation by the SEC and foreign regulator.
Part of legal team defending former officers of US defense contractor in anti-corruption prosecution by foreign government which arose from global corruption scandal and resulted in acquittals at trial.
Counsel to court-appointed Examiner in the bankruptcy proceeding of New Century Financial Corporation, concentrating on financial and accounting matters.
Defended global financial institution in investigations by the SEC and DOJ arising from market timing and late trading and obtained declinations.
Counsel to court-appointed receivers in federal securities enforcement cases with responsibility for locating and distributing investor assets and successfully litigating claw-back claims on behalf of receivers before US District Court for District of Columbia and US Court of Appeals for DC Circuit.
Counsel to the court-appointed bankruptcy examiner in his investigation of WorldCom, with lead responsibility for the investigation of WorldCom’s accounting practices and the performance of the company’s audit committee, internal and external auditors.
Defended software development public company in SEC investigation of accounting irregularities involving allegations of revenue recognition fraud, obtaining declination.
Represent broker-dealers and employees before FINRA in enforcement investigations including on fraud, suitability and BSA/AML matters and defend customer arbitrations.
Trained securities and capital markets regulators from emerging market countries through the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, in Sofia, Bulgaria.
INTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS
Regularly lead domestic and cross-border internal investigations on behalf of public and private companies, their boards of directors and audit committees relating to accounting, employment and corporate governance matters, often sparked by whistleblower complaints under Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley.
Led a global internal investigation on behalf of board of directors of affiliate of Japanese public company involving accounting and revenue reporting, internal controls and compliance with FCPA and anti-corruption policies.
Conducted internal investigation of whistleblower complaints on behalf of special committee of board of nonprofit organization.
Conducted internal investigation on behalf of broker-dealer of claims of embezzlement involving registered representative.
Led cross-border internal review of whistleblower complaints on behalf of global company conducting pharmaceutical trials in EU and Turkey.
Conducted internal investigation on behalf of Audit Committee of corporation in connection with 2004 Athens Olympics.
Led internal investigation on corporate governance and employment matters on behalf of Board of Trustees of university with international operations.
FINANCIAL SERVICES AND SECURITIES LITIGATION
Defended large financial institution in mortgage-related litigation before the US District Court for the District of Maryland, prevailing in dismissing majority of claims.
Won dismissal of independent director of healthcare company from securities litigation before Nevada state court.
Won summary judgment in US District Court for the District of Maryland in favor of bank trust company, affiliated broker-dealer, and former officer obtaining complete dismissal of claims of fraud, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and statutory consumer fraud.
Won affirmance by Maryland Court of Special Appeals of judgment in favor of company servicing student loans in litigation alleging breach of contract, fraud and other torts.
Represented financial institution in investor class action before Delaware Chancery and Supreme Courts. Worked to structure and oversaw implementation of class settlement involving distribution of no-load mutual fund shares and commission discounts.
Defended corporation and directors in putative shareholder class action before the Baltimore City Circuit Court of Maryland in connection with litigation and settlement issues.
