As an investment adviser or fund, you obviously try to steer clear of government investigations and inquiries. However, there may be times when you find yourself involved in an investigation or facing alleged violations of federal and/or state securities laws. During these times, you need a highly experienced team of attorneys with extensive knowledge and experience in structural, operational and regulatory matters who are up to date on current industry developments.

Vedder Price’s Government Investigations and White Collar Defense group has significant prior experience working at the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Department of Justice, and a proven track record of successfully defending investment advisers, funds, chief compliance officers and other senior executives and individuals in government investigations and related proceedings. We utilize the depth and knowledge of the firm’s top-tier Investment Services group when representing advisory clients to achieve the most optimal outcome for you and your business.

Our clients include:

•  Investment advisers, investment companies, commodities trading advisers and related organizations, and their employees
• Fund directors and trustees
• Hedge funds, mutual funds and private funds
• Chief executives and other senior management, chief compliance officers and related individuals that may be facing government scrutiny
• Portfolio managers

Vedder Price is experienced in facing cutting-edge areas of the law and frequently represents investment advisers and funds in high-profile matters that have industry-wide implications.

Our broad experience includes work on the following types of matters:

• Fraud and other misconduct arising under the Securities Act, Securities Exchange Act, Investment Advisers Act and/or Investment Company Act, including alleged violations of Sections 206(1) and 206(2) of the Investment Advisers Act
• Conflicts of interest and disclosure issues
• Governance/compliance breakdowns and related remediation
• Insider trading allegations
• Board governance and oversight
• Self-reporting to regulators
• Mock audits and internal investigations

Representative Matters

• Representing an investment adviser and four private funds in connection with an SEC investigation and state securities investigation stemming from investments in a large-scale Ponzi scheme
• Representing an investment adviser, its parent company and various affiliated entities and individuals in connection with an SEC investigation concerning conflicts of interest and valuation of investments held by private funds managed by affiliates
• Representing an investment adviser and certain officers and employees in an SEC investigation involving cross-trading
• Representing a former executive of a commodity trading adviser in investigations by the SEC and CFTC as well as various civil lawsuits brought on behalf of investors relating to significant losses suffered in connection with unprecedented spikes in the volatility index
• Representing a series of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and their independent trustees in an investigation by the SEC regarding supervision and oversight
• Representing the former principal of an investment adviser in an SEC investigation regarding principal’s redemption of assets from a fund managed by the adviser and financial matters relating to the fund’s portfolio companies
• Represented an investment adviser, its parent company and various affiliated entities and individuals in connection with an SEC investigation considering the use of affiliated products and related conflicts of interest
• Represented an investment adviser in connection with a self-report to the SEC pursuant to its Share Class Selection Disclosure Initiative
• Represented a large Midwest-based mutual fund complex and its independent trustees in an SEC investigation involving supervision and oversight issues
• Represented an investment adviser regarding an issue with disclosure of a conflict of interest surrounding soft dollar payments, including conducting an internal investigation and facilitating the adviser’s self-reporting of the issue to the SEC
• Represented a mutual fund adviser in connection with multiple federal and state court lawsuits filed by former investors in a mutual fund that was sub-advised by a third party
• Represented an investment advisor in an SEC investigation regarding losses sustained by one of the adviser’s mutual funds and the adviser’s subsequent termination of the fund’s sub-adviser
• Represented an investment adviser and its officers and employees in connection with an SEC investigation relating to conflicts of interest and related disclosures
• Represented an investment adviser in an SEC investigation involving portfolio rebalancing and related processes
• Represented Michael M. Eidelman, Receiver in U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Peregrine Financial Group, Inc., and Russell R. Wasendorf, Sr.
• Represented a commodity pool operator in a significant commodities fraud litigation and parallel administrative action brought by the CFTC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
• Represented an investment adviser and its officers in an internal investigation and SEC investigation involving conflicts of interest relating to its portfolio managers
• Represented the independent trustees of a large investment fund in an SEC investigation involving the appropriateness of risk disclosures and oversight
• Represented an investment adviser in an SEC investigation relating to portfolio risk and allocation
• Represented the independent trustees of a mutual fund in an SEC investigation involving conflicts of interest allegations and supervision issues
• Represented the independent trustees of a large Midwest-based mutual fund complex in an SEC investigation involving supervision and oversight issues