Michael A. Asaro focuses on white collar criminal defense, SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigations, corporate internal investigations and complex commercial litigation. Mike is a former assistant U.S. attorney from the Eastern District of New York, where he served as deputy chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section.
During his tenure, the office prosecuted numerous complex and high profile securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery and money laundering cases.Earlier in his career, Mike served as branch chief in the SEC’s New York office, supervising staff attorneys as they worked on regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. While he was at the SEC, he was appointed as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Mike is described by Chambers USA as “extremely smart and super responsive.” He has particular experience in matters involving:
- Insider trading
- Market manipulation
- Accounting irregularities
- Investment advisor and broker/dealer regulation
- Conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duty
- Anti-bribery and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
Experience:
- Served for five years as a federal prosecutor and four years as an enforcement attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
- Represents companies and individuals in high-stakes, white collar and regulatory investigations and litigation.
Representative Work:
- Defended a hedge fund in defamation lawsuit involving alleged “short and distort” market manipulation scheme. Obtained a dismissal of the case in its entirety on behalf of client on First Amendment grounds.
- Defended a multibillion-dollar hedge fund and its founder in connection with a significant insider dealing investigation by the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) that raised novel issues related to distinctions between U.S. and UK securities laws.
- Defended executive of international investment bank who was the target of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts into allegedly fraudulent subprime mortgage securitizations. Convinced the U.S. Attorney’s Office to resolve the matter without any charges against the client.
- Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of Audit Committees for two public companies. The matter involved allegations of accounting improprieties in a joint venture.
- Represented hedge funds and their employees in connection with multiple investigations by the SEC, DOJ and U.S. Congress into issues related to the application of insider trading rules to the political intelligence industry under the STOCK Act.
- Represented high frequency trading firm in connection with investigations by the DOJ, CFTC, and CME into alleged scheme to manipulate the futures markets through spoofing.
- Represented investment adviser and its principal in securities class action and multiple shareholder derivative lawsuits alleging fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Obtained dismissals of all actions, which were upheld on appeal.
Education:
- J.D., Brooklyn Law School, magna cum laude, 1998
- B.S., Boston University, 1995
Bar Admissions:
- New York
Cost
Rate : $$$