Bruce Bettigole is a member of Sutherland's Litigation Practice Group. He represents clients involved in Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), State securities commissions, and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations and litigation, as well as in FINRA arbitrations and private securities class actions. Bruce provides counsel across a broad spectrum of securities enforcement matters, including allegations of misrepresentations, omissions, accounting fraud, stock manipulation, insider trading, deficient sales practices and supervision, anti-money laundering program weaknesses and other key issues. Bruce has been in private practice since July 2004. From 1991 to 2004, Bruce served with the SEC and NASD (now known as FINRA), and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, the Southern District of Florida, the District of New Jersey, and the District of Nevada. He was lead trial counsel in numerous successful prosecutions, including U.S. v. Swan, U.S. v. Orkin, and U.S. v. Nazareno. He served as a Director and Chief Counsel in NASD's Enforcement Department from 2003 to 2004, where he supervised investigations and litigation. Bruce also was Chief Counsel of NASD's Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group from its inception in 1998 until 2003, supervising the unit and assisting federal, state, and local prosecutors nationwide in criminal securities-related investigations and prosecutions. From 1991 to 1998, Bruce was an Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel with the SEC. Before specializing in securities matters, Bruce was in private practice in general litigation from 1981 to 1991. Representative Experience Bruce's representative experience includes: · Obtaining summary judgment against the SEC on numerous issues in favor of the former Vice President of Finance and Chief Tax Counsel of a major medical implants manufacturer regarding reserves accounting issues, including a $1 billion reserve for product liability class action exposure. All fraud charges were ultimately dropped, and the case was settled based on books and records charges. · Defending a major independent broker-dealer in an administrative proceeding brought by the Massachusetts Securities Division regarding alternative investments, as well as representing the firm nationwide in related class actions and FINRA arbitrations. · Representing broker-dealer, Chief Compliance Officer and registered representatives in FINRA arbitrations involving allegations of churning, unsuitability and failure to supervise. · Representing the former Chairman/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a major bank in Puerto Rico in the first matter identified by the SEC as part of its "subprime" initiative. The case was settled on favorable terms. · Successfully appealing to FINRA's appellate body, the National Adjudicatory Council, reversing the Hearing Panel's decision that the client (registered representative) intentionally entered improper disability waivers of contingent deferred sales charges. · Representing a broker-dealer in a FINRA investigation concerning variable annuity transactions. · Representing a broker-dealer in a FINRA investigation into excessive underwriter compensation. The matter was resolved without formal regulatory action. · Representing a broker-dealer in a FINRA investigation into anti-money laundering (AML) issues. The matter was settled to the satisfaction of the client. · Representing the head trader of a broker-dealer in a FINRA investigation regarding allegations of the tying of aftermarket sales to special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) initial public offering (IPO) investments in violation of Regulation M. After Wells submission, no action was taken against the client. · Representing a gaming industry executive in an SEC investigation into revenue recognition issues regarding bill and hold transactions. No action was taken against the client. · Representing Big Four accounting firm partners in PCAOB and SEC investigations. · Representing a registered representative in a FINRA inquiry into a customer complaint of overcharging of account fees through failure to "household" accounts. No action was taken against the client. · Representing a broker-dealer in an internal investigation regarding e-mail retention and e-discovery issues. Professional Honors and Awards · Named to The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of administrative law and securities law (2007-2012) Professional and Community Involvement · Member, American Bar Association Recent Publications · Chapter Co-author, "Defending Clients in Financial Regulatory Authority Investigations," and "Defending Clients in Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Investigations," Defending Corporations and Individuals in Government Investigations, 2011 ed. · Co-author, "Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: Regulators Focus on Manipulation," Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry (September-October 2009) · Co-author, "FINRA Investigations," Chapter 16 in Securities Investigations: Internal, Civil and Criminal (2008) · Speaker, "Broker-Dealer Enforcement, Litigation and Arbitration," PLI Fundamentals of Broker-Dealer Regulation 2010 (June 28, 2010) Industries Financial Services Retirement Products and Services News Bruce M. Bettigole Joins Sutherland's Litigation Practice Group
June 24, 2009 Legal Alerts Legal Alert: Summary of Selected Programs from SIFMA Compliance & Legal Division's 2011 Annual Seminar
April 15, 2011 Legal Alert: FINRA Delays Implementation of New Suitability Rules Until July 2012
April 11, 2011 Legal Alert: FINRA's All Public Panel Option Is Now Available in All Customer Cases
February 8, 2011 Legal Alert: Significant Changes to FINRA's Know Your Customer and Suitability Rules to Take Effect in 2011
January 3, 2011 Legal Alert: How Georgia's New Restrictive Covenants Laws May Impact Broker-Dealers
November 29, 2010 Legal Alert: Impact of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act on Broker-Dealers
August 16, 2010 Legal Alert: FINRA Proposes to Include More and Older Information on BrokerCheck
February 24, 2010 Legal Alert: FINRA Restricts Internal Use Only Rules Through Enforcement Actions
January 6, 2010 Legal Alert: Ninth Circuit Overturns Denial of Class Certification in Action Involving Sale of Annuities to Senior Citizens; Orders Class Certified
August 31, 2009 Publications Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: Regulators Focus on Manipulation
September-October 2009 Reprinted with permission Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry FINRA Investigations
2008 Securities Investigations: Internal, Civil and Criminal Events PLI Fundamentals of Broker-Dealer Regulation 2010
June 28, 2010 |