BARRY RASHKOVER is a nationally recognized, veteran securities enforcement defense lawyer. Described as an “A-team player,” “absolutely fantastic,” “very knowledgeable,” “an excellent lawyer with keen insight,” “strategic,” and a “formidable” advocate in Chambers USA, and named a “National Practice Area Star” and “Litigation Star” (2021–2023) in Benchmark Litigation, he defends companies and individuals before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), FINRA, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and state attorneys general. While Barry co-headed Sidley’s global Securities Enforcement and Regulatory practice, the group was named Chambers USA “Firm of the Year” for Financial Services and Securities Regulation (2019 and 2016); US News – Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” for Litigation – Regulatory Enforcement (2021); and US News – Best Lawyers® “Law Firm of the Year” for Securities Regulation (2020 and 2017). Before Sidley, Barry held several high-level positions at the SEC, including Co-head of Enforcement and Associate Director for the SEC’s Northeast Regional Office, and an SEC senior trial counsel.
At Sidley, Barry focuses on high-profile, high-stakes matters involving complex and emerging issues. For example:
- Public Company. Barry represents public companies and senior officials in SEC investigations concerning a broad range of issues, such as financial reporting, FCPA, disclosure, executive compensation, internal controls, and Regulation FD. He has considerable experience conducting internal investigations for public companies or their Boards.
- Investment Adviser Fiduciary Duty and Compliance. Barry has represented investment advisers and principals in approximately 70 SEC investigations or examinations concerning regulatory priority issues, such as allocation of investments, fund expenses, adviser compensation, valuation of fund holdings, cross trades, disclosure of investment risk and fund objectives, MNPI policies and procedures, alternative data, ESG, and adequacy of compliance procedures.
- Broker-Dealer. Barry has represented major Wall Street firms in SEC and FINRA matters involving a broad spectrum of regulatory issues, such as Regulation SHO, anti-money laundering, trade surveillance, customer protection rule, high-frequency trading, and MNPI procedures.
- Crypto. He defends prominent crypto firms in cutting-edge regulatory investigations, including matters focused on registration, whether tokens are securities, and extraterritorial jurisdiction.
- Insider Trading. Barry routinely defends individuals, fund advisers, and broker-dealers in SEC enforcement matters concerning alleged insider trading or MNPI policies and procedures. He also conducts internal investigations into MNPI issues and advises on MNPI policies and procedures.
- Cybersecurity. Barry represents financial institutions and public companies in investigations concerning cyber issues, including matters involving Regulation S-ID, disclosure, and internal controls.
- RMBS. He defended a major international bank in DOJ, SEC, State Attorney General, and other multi-year investigations into the creation and underwriting of Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities up to the financial crisis.
- Litigation. Drawing on his trial and emergency relief litigation experience at the SEC and before that, Barry has represented businesses and individuals in SEC litigation and successfully defended emergency relief litigation against the CFTC. He creates novel and effective strategies to coordinate the defense of regulatory investigations with parallel civil litigation and criminal cases.
- LIBOR. Barry headed the defense of a BBA panel bank in high-profile CFTC, DOJ, and state investigations into setting U.S. dollar.
- SEC Regulation M. Barry has defended investment advisers and broker-dealers in numerous investigations about perceived stock manipulation and issues under Rule 105.
At the SEC, Barry led some of the agency’s most important enforcement matters, including enforcement actions against NYSE specialist firms for unlawful proprietary trading (resulting in a US$240 million global settlement); financial reporting cases involving Adelphia Communications Corp. and Computer Associates International, Inc.; the SEC’s first-ever enforcement action against the NYSE; cases arising out of improper proprietary trading by NYSE floor brokers; insider trading cases, such as SEC v. Samuel Waksal and SEC v. Martha Stewart and Peter Bacanovic; and federal court cases halting ongoing fraud, including SEC v. The Bennett Funding Group, Inc., which involved one of the largest securities “Ponzi” schemes in U.S. history. He co-chaired the SEC’s trial team to victory in the jury trial of the “Southampton Seven” insider trading case.
For years, prestigious industry publications have recognized Barry, including Chambers USA (ranked since 2010 in Securities Regulation: Enforcement), U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms,” Benchmark Litigation, WWL Global Investigations Review, and The Legal 500. According to Chambers, for example, sources say that he is a “very strong and very insightful lawyer” and “has the trust and respect of the SEC staff.” Interviewees describe Barry as “very learned and smart, and a joy to work with”; and he “receives praise from clients for his expert approach to major investigations by regulators and his ability to ‘handle really high-risk cases in a thoughtful way.’” In 1999, he received the SEC’s “Stanley Sporkin Award” for outstanding contributions to the agency’s enforcement program. Barry speaks and writes often on SEC enforcement and related issues. He has participated in programs concerning SEC enforcement and litigation sponsored by SIFMA, the SEC Historical Society, the New York City Bar Association, American Conference Institute, Directors Roundtable, Glasser LegalWorks, Practising Law Institute, Legal IQ, the SEC, the DOJ, and Cornell Law School, among others. One of his speaking engagements in February 2018, “Commencing and Conducting the Internal Investigation: What Must Be Considered,” was part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series at his alma mater, Cornell Law School.