Practice Areas

Regulatory Enforcement Matters

Events of the last few years have led to a higher level of regulatory scrutiny and further expansion of investigations by the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and other government agencies. Regulators faced with pressure from Congress, the media and the public can be expected to ask for more documents and speak with more witnesses as they try to avoid missing any potential securities violations. This means that many financial and other business professionals will be involved to some extent in a regulatory investigation in the future.

For the past 14 years, Abbe R. Tiger has been an attorney in the Office of General Counsel at Merrill Lynch & Company, Incorporated. In the various roles she held, Ms. Tiger worked with and represented many financial professionals who were faced with regulatory inquiries. Ms. Tiger understands that hearing from a regulator is never easy even for an individual who has done nothing wrong. Ms. Tiger believes that an important aspect of representation in these situations is careful and complete communication with each of her clients every step of the way. With her extensive experience on both the government and the defense side of regulatory matters, Ms. Tiger is able to help her clients understand the investigative process and consider all factors in determining the best plan of action in responding to an investigation.

Among the matters handled by Ms. Tiger were:

• Represented several Financial Advisors in an SEC investigation concerning Auction Rate Securities.
• Represented a Financial Advisor in an SEC insider trading investigation.
• Represented a Chief Credit Officer of an asset based lender in an SEC investigation concerning a Ponzi scheme.
• Represented a Certified Financial Adviser in an investigation conducted by the Professional Conduct Program of the CFA Institute.
• Acting as in-house counsel, managed the defense of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. in a three year SEC investigation of the firm's pension consulting business. The case was settled as an Administrative Proceeding on January 30, 2009, SEC Release IA-2834, http://sec.gov/litigation/admin.shtml.
• Represented Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. in a NYSE matter concerning the Firm's procedures for supervising post-execution account changes for trades executed on an institutional trading desk. The investigation arose from the firm's termination of an institutional sales trader for improper post-execution account changes in favor of a particular institutional client. The matter was settled April 9, 2008, NYSE Disciplinary Action 08-006, http://www.nyse.com/DiscAxn/discAxn_04_2008.html#08-006.

White Collar Criminal Defense

Another result of the financial crisis and intensified regulatory environment is that state and federal criminal authorities are showing more interest in matters that in the past would have been left to the civil authorities. Parallel civil and criminal proceedings are becoming more common in securities cases. In these instances, it is important to have an attorney who understands the dynamics of both types of matters. Ms. Tiger's early career experience as a criminal prosecutor in Brooklyn, NY provides her with a solid foundation for dealing with law enforcement personnel and prosecutors on behalf of her clients.

Corporate Investigations

From January 2002 until her departure, Ms. Tiger was the head of internal investigations at Merrill Lynch & Company, Inc. Ms. Tiger conducted and/or supervised hundreds of internal investigations in many areas including: pay to play, gifts and entertainment, insider trading, misappropriation of client assets, unsuitable investments, inappropriate use of discretion in client accounts, etc. Ms. Tiger understands the importance of providing corporate clients complete and accurate factual findings expeditiously so that appropriate remedial steps may be taken. In today's environment, regulators expect corporations to quickly get to the bottom of an issue and self-report to gain credit for cooperation.