Quinn Emanuel partners Michael Liftik, Sarah Heaton Concannon, and Dabney O’Riordan join this special episode of the inSecurities Podcast to unpack the SEC Division of Enforcement’s Annual Report, which was released on November 14, 2023. Kurt and the expert panel discuss the Division’s motivation to post impressive enforcement statistics and grab headlines with high impact cases. The panel also discusses programmatic priorities, including perennial focus areas like investment adviser cases, and results in litigated matters.

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Featured in this Episode

Michael Liftik

Michael Liftik is Co-Chair of Quinn Emanuel’s SEC Enforcement practice, and Co-Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office. His practice focuses on government and internal investigations, regulatory enforcement defense, securities litigation, cryptocurrencies, congressional investigations, crisis management, and cybersecurity. Michael has extensive experience as a securities litigator, having worked on matters stemming from major securities regulatory crises, including market timing and late trading, stock options backdating, and the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Michael spent nearly a decade at the Securities and Exchange Commission where he developed a unique depth of knowledge working on enforcement and regulatory matters at all levels of the Commission. Michael has appeared on CNBC, CNN, and Bloomberg TV and has frequently been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times for his expertise on these topics.

Michael brings his deep understanding of the securities laws and investigative processes to his representation of public and private companies, senior executives, asset managers, and broker-dealers before the SEC, FINRA, CFTC, DOJ, Congress, and in related civil litigation. Michael also advises hedge funds and private equity funds on compliance issues, including during SEC examinations. Michael litigates in federal and state courts around the country in securities class actions, disputes involving the financial services industry, and matters requiring a sophisticated understanding of complex financial products. Michael leads internal investigations in accounting and financial reporting matters, cybersecurity breaches, and highly sensitive employment issues, and regularly assists clients in crisis management and public affairs responses to mission critical matters.

Prior to joining the firm, Michael was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the SEC, where he served as a senior legal advisor to Chair Mary Jo White on all aspects of the SEC’s operations, including enforcement, regulatory policy, compliance exams, agency strategy and direction, as well as the day-to-day management of the agency. Michael also served as Chair White’s deputy to the Financial Stability Oversight Council and was responsible for working with senior staff from other financial regulatory agencies on identifying risks and emerging threats to the financial stability of the United States. He was also responsible for assisting the Chair in developing the agency’s policies on cybersecurity disclosure and data protection for registered entities and public companies. He led the SEC’s initial efforts to analyze areas where emerging financial technologies intersect with securities regulation, and directed the organization of the SEC’s first Fintech Forum.

Before serving as Deputy Chief of Staff, Michael was Chair White's Senior Advisor on Enforcement, counseling the Chair on enforcement cases and policy matters. Prior to his service in the Chair’s office, Michael was Counsel to the Director of the Division of Enforcement. He began his career at the SEC in San Francisco as an Enforcement Division staff attorney where he investigated and litigated a wide range of securities law violations, including FCPA, insider trading, financial and accounting fraud, and complex offering frauds. He was a member the Asset Management Unit, which is an enforcement group focused on cases involving investment advisers, private funds, and investment companies. From January to April 2017, Michael served as the Acting Chief of the Complex Financial Instruments Unit, where he oversaw 45 attorneys and industry experts in offices across the country that investigate potential misconduct related to complex financial products, such as structured notes, asset-backed securities, and derivatives, and practices involving sophisticated market issues, such as fixed income trading and illiquid asset valuations.

Featured In This Episode

Sarah Heaton Concannon

Sarah Heaton Concannon is a nationally recognized first-chair trial and appellate lawyer who serves as Co-Chair of Quinn Emanuel’s SEC Enforcement Defense practice and is resident in the firm’s Washington, D.C. and New York, N.Y. offices. Sarah has over two decades’ experience representing and advising public companies, private funds, hedge funds, investment advisers, boards, audit committees, senior executives, and other individuals in bet-the-company litigation and governmental investigations. Sarah brings together a practical, results-driven, client-centric focus, outstanding academic credentials, and a unique depth of knowledge regarding how to best navigate governmental and regulatory processes to achieve results for clients.

Sarah recently held senior positions at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As Senior Trial Counsel at the SEC, Sarah litigated and investigated a wide array of securities matters, including actions for fraud, market manipulation, breaches of fiduciary duty, insider trading, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), excessive mark-ups, and disclosure and books and records violations. Sarah’s federal district court litigations included high-profile and ground-breaking matters of key significance to the Commission, hundreds of millions of dollars recovered on behalf of investors, and multiple parallel criminal actions with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices. Sarah was undefeated in dispositive motions, at trial, and on appeal.

While at the SEC, Sarah provided strategic advice and counsel in crypto and digital asset matters and also worked closely with both the Office of General Counsel and the Co-Directors of Enforcement on crypto-policy and the application of the Howey Test to evolving technologies. Sarah has extensive experience handling matters involving cross-border enforcement, blocking statutes, and the IOSCO Multilateral Memorandum of Understanding. She was a key member of a cross-divisional SEC team focused on uncovering potential violations of U.S. securities laws by entities and individuals located in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and a go-to resource for the SEC’s coordinated enforcement response to legal developments in the PRC.

Sarah also served as a member of the executive staff of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement as Senior Counsel to the Directors. In that capacity, she advised the Directors on enforcement matters and regularly liaised with the Chairman and Commissioners. Sarah prepared Congressional correspondence and testimony and aided Congress in considering and drafting legislation, including related to insider trading, statutes of limitations, disgorgement, and restitution. As a result of having served on the Division’s executive staff, Sarah is uniquely situated to help clients navigate the SEC’s Wells process and cooperation program. In 2020, Sarah received the SEC’s Douglas Adams Award for significant contributions to improving the effectiveness of the National Examination Program through personal leadership, and, in 2019, she received the Division Directors Award for her efforts securing tens of millions of dollars in unlawful trading assets in SEC v. Longfin Corp., et al., 18 Civ. 2977-DLC (S.D.N.Y.).

Featured In This Episode

Dabney O’Riordan

Dabney O’Riordan is a partner in Quinn Emanuel’s SEC Enforcement practice where she primarily focuses on securities-related government inquiries and litigation, particularly for private investment firms and other asset managers. Dabney has extensive experience managing investigations and litigation, in particular matters involving the asset management industry, including advisers to private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, mutual funds, ETFs, business development companies, and separately managed accounts. In addition to representing clients in connection with SEC and other government matters, Dabney provides compliance counseling to asset managers.

A more than seventeen-year veteran of the SEC, Dabney was the longest-serving leader of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit (AMU), which is a nationwide unit of approximately 60 lawyers and industry experts that leads the SEC’s efforts to investigate and litigate issues involving the asset management industry. During her more than six years leading the AMU, Dabney supervised hundreds of investigations, gaining extensive experience managing complex investigations and making ultimate investigative and litigation decisions, including the AMU’s investigative priorities, which cases to pursue, settlement terms to recommend to the SEC, and when and how best to litigate cases.

In leading the AMU, Dabney also directed the SEC Enforcement Division’s efforts to address emerging issues in the asset management industry. This work included participating on key task forces, providing guidance to other senior officers throughout the Enforcement Division, regularly collaborating with the Division of Examinations and Division of Investment Management, and engaging with the asset management industry. Among other things, Dabney was a member of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Climate and ESG Task Force and provided advice on the SEC’s 2019 Interpretation Regarding Standard of Conduct for Investment Advisers and various rules applicable to the asset management industry, including Regulation Best Interest, the Marketing Rule, the Proposed Private Fund Adviser Rule, and the Proposed ESG Disclosure Rule for Investment Advisers and Investment Companies.

Before leading the national AMU, Dabney led the SEC Los Angeles Regional Office’s Enforcement program as Associate Regional Director, overseeing the office’s enforcement priorities, investigations, and litigation involving public companies, insider trading, brokers, and investment advisers. Prior to that, Dabney spent eleven years investigating, litigating, and managing matters within the SEC’s Enforcement Division, working on novel and complex cases involving a wide range of issues falling within the SEC’s jurisdiction and frequently working in parallel with the federal criminal authorities.

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An Expert Panel Assesses the SEC’s Annual Enforcement Report

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Featured in this Episode

Michael Liftik

Featured In This Episode

Sarah Heaton Concannon

Featured In This Episode

Dabney O’Riordan