Bradley’s broker-dealer and investment adviser team is a crucial partner to clients operating in the high-stakes and dynamic securities industry. In an environment where regulations are ever-increasing – both in number and complexity – and government oversight and enforcement is growing stricter, our interdisciplinary and client-focused approach is essential for helping financial services clients not only maintain compliance and protect their operations, but also develop and grow their businesses.

Bradley’s seasoned team of attorneys has extensive experience both within regulatory agencies, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), as well as in-house at major financial institutions and exchanges. Our attorneys counsel broker-dealers, investment advisers, market-making firms, proprietary trading firms, exchanges, hedge funds, banks, and asset managers, including some of the largest financial institutions in the country.

Bradley’s broker-dealer and investment adviser services include:

Our lawyers have worked within federal regulatory agencies and leverage that experience to help create structures that keep our clients in compliance with regulatory requirements. We review a variety of business transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, debt financing, fund formation, and other specialized transactions for compliance with securities rules and regulation.

Our attorneys also have experience in the drafting and approval process for securities rules, and we maintain a close eye on the latest developments so we can provide our clients with the most up-to-date advice regarding new rulings, laws, and regulations. Bradley lawyers work closely with our clients to gain a deep understanding of their businesses and effectively tailor our advice to match their most important goals and priorities. Our team advises clients on a wide range of legal, regulatory, and compliance matters, including broker-dealer and investment advisor registration, equity and options trading rules, sales practices, short sales, Regulation NMS, Regulation SCI, investment adviser and investment company regulation, FINRA Rules, conflicts of interest, issuer repurchases, statutory disqualifications, information barriers, Regulation S-P, soft dollars, insider trading, prime brokerage, subordinated loan agreements, and anti-money laundering.

Bradley works with businesses to design, develop, review, monitor, and test compliance programs that can identify and mitigate any potential issues before they require intervention from a regulatory body. Our legal team helps draft or revise policies and procedures to remain compliant with exchange trading rules, federal rules, and other regulatory rules, and conducts mock audits and gap analysis, as well as providing employee training and preparing clients for regulatory examinations.

In the event of an investigation, our team works closely with our clients to help them at every step of the process to bring the matter to a resolution and limit the potential financial, operational, and reputational damage. Our mix of prosecution and defense experience gives our team keen insight into how to take proactive measures to avoid falling outside compliance, and how to mitigate potential exposure in the event clients do end up the subject of investigation or litigation. Our attorneys defend clients against all civil and criminal accusations related to the securities industry including fraud, suitability, negligence, trading errors, selling away, breach of contract, trade secrets, sales practice violations, ERISA investment standards, failed asset securitizations, defaulted syndicated loans, accounting irregularities, money laundering, insider trading, FCPA violations, and corporate raiding. We defend clients against litigation brought by all state and federal regulatory bodies, including the SEC, DOJ, FINRA, NYSE Regulation, Congress, and state attorneys general, and have arbitration experience in front of FINRA, the American Arbitration Association, and other venues.