John is a leading investment funds and financial institutions attorney with over 30 years of government, corporate in-house, and AmLaw 100 law firm transactional and litigation experience. John concentrates his practice on transactions and litigation involving the Advisers Act; the Investment Company Act; laws and regulations governing the offer, sale, ownership, and trading of registered and exempted securities, commodities, futures, swaps, and derivatives products. He also represents client on transactions and litigation involving ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, the Bank Secrecy/USA Patriot Act, and other federal and state laws affecting the investment and trading activities and business practices of US and foreign investment advisers, investment companies, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds, CTAs, CPOs, broker-dealers, banks and bank holding companies, insurers, pension plans, sovereign wealth entities, family offices, and tax-exempt organizations.
John has substantial experience as a transactional, regulatory, and compliance attorney in the alternative and registered funds industries. He has advised on the formation and operation of and allocation of capital to a vast array of venture capital, private equity, real estate, and hedge funds pursuing diverse and innovative strategies in markets and asset classes throughout the world. John has also advised on the development of innovative registered investment products often derived from these strategies. He has advised RIAs, fund sponsors, capital allocators, management teams, and boards and committees on a breadth of transactional, market conduct, and governance issues and disputes, including in high-profile civil, regulatory, and criminal matters. During the course of his practice, John has worked directly with principals, operational and investment personnel, and US and foreign regulatory and enforcement agencies, such as the SEC, CFTC, FINRA, NFA, FRB, FinCEN, FSA/FCA, and CIMA.
Notably, John has served as lead securities counsel on a landmark accountants professional liability case stemming from the insolvency of Colonial Realty Corp., a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that drained the retirement accounts of tens of thousands of investors and led to the closure of several regional banks in what was to become the largest real estate syndication fraud ever perpetuated in the United States at that time.