Cliff brings more than 30 years of regulatory, in-house and private practice experience to his work counseling financial services clients regarding the comprehensive regulations governing asset managers, broker-dealers, investment advisers and bank fiduciaries. He works with clients on various types of investment vehicles in the retail and retirement market including managed advisory programs, insurance investment funds, registered investment companies and bank collective investment trusts.

Cliff routinely guides clients through US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and state securities departments in connection with regulatory and examination matters. Cliff also works regularly with the preeminent securities, retirement and insurance industry trade associations, and serves as policy counsel to the Financial Services Institute (FSI), which is the industry trade association for independent broker-dealers. He is often called upon to represent a wide range of firms (including securities broker-dealers and asset managers) and leading industry trade associations on regulatory reform issues and often assists clients in connection with rulemaking and policymaking before federal regulators. 

Cliff began his career at the SEC, rising to the position of Assistant Director at the agency’s Division of Investment Management and then served as chief legal officer for over ten years to one of the county’s largest dual-registrants. Cliff also serves as editor of the Practising Law Institute’s blog, BD/IA: Regulation in Focus, which provides legal perspectives on current regulatory developments for broker-dealers and investment advisers.

In addition to his work at Eversheds Sutherland, Cliff is heavily involved in the community. In 2012, he co-founded the Julia Anne Kirsch Foundation, which seeks to serve the needs of disabled individuals and their families.