Cybersecurity, Climate and More - The SEC's Active Rulemaking Agenda and its Impact on Issuers and Regulated Entities

Stephen L. Cohen is is the global practice leader of the Regulatory and Enforcement group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He advises clients on a comprehensive range of government and internal investigations, enforcement-related litigation, whistleblower complaints, cyber breaches and regulatory and compliance issues, including clients seeking to strengthen corporate governance and compliance programs. Stephen joined Sidley in 2017 after twelve years at the Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently serving as Associate Director in the Enforcement Division where he earned the Distinguished Service Award, the agency’s highest honor. He oversaw hundreds of investigations involving broker-dealers, investment advisers, exchanges, securities offerings, insider trading and a range of public company and accounting issues. The Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics presented Stephen with its 2017 International Compliance & Ethics award, recognizing him for his significant contributions to the compliance and ethics profession. Stephen is a Chambers-ranked member of Sidley’s global Securities Enforcement and Regulatory practice, which received the 2019 Chambers USA Award for Financial Services Regulation, and was named the “Law Firm of the Year” for Securities Regulation in 2020 and 2017 by U.S. News – Best Lawyers.

Rob brings 15 years of senior-level experience in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement to his work representing companies, boards and individuals in government investigations, as well as conducting internal investigations.
He represents public companies in SEC investigations concerning disclosures, accounting and internal controls. He is an authority on cryptocurrency enforcement, having led the SEC’s first wave of cases involving digital assets and initial coin offerings. With his experience as the first-ever Chief of the SEC’s Cyber Unit, Rob also is active in our Data Privacy & Cybersecurity practice.
When Rob was Co-Chief of the SEC’s Market Abuse Unit, he handled enforcement actions involving insider trading, market structure, manipulation, broker-dealers, ATSs and exchanges.
He is co-chair of the D.C. Bar’s Securities Enforcement Subcommittee and is a member of Law360’s 2021 Securities Editorial Advisory Board.

Jay Spinella is a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting and is based in Washington, DC. Mr. Spinella is an accounting professional with more than 18 years of accounting experience gained in “big 4” public accounting and with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He provides consulting services for law and accounting firms, public companies, and others regarding financial reporting, technical accounting and SEC related matters.
Mr. Spinella worked with several public real estate companies in assisting merger, spin-off and restructuring related transactions and the accounting, financial reporting and SEC reporting impact of those transactions. Expertise was gained in all areas of real estate related accounting topics such as leasing transactions, cost capitalization, revenue recognition, purchase price accounting, project development, joint venture investments and cost allocations.
While Mr. Spinella was at the SEC, he worked in the Division of Corporation Finance (Real Estate and Business Services Group) and was responsible for the examination of numerous financial statement filings, including periodic reports, registration statements, merger documents, proxy solicitations and other filings related to REITs and other publicly traded real estate entities. Those examinations involved identifying material accounting, auditing and financial reporting deficiencies in financial disclosure, including pro forma financial statements, resulting from deviations in GAAP, GAAS and the accounting rules and regulations of the SEC.
Recently, Mr. Spinella assisted an international hospitality company with coordination and supervision within the Company’s accounting policy group. Included preparation of complex accounting policies and remediation of identified significant deficiencies related to internal control. He has also served as an expert witness involving a non-traded REIT matter before FINRA on various SEC reporting and disclosure topics. He also led a team that assisted a Fortune 500 Real Estate Company analyze numerous real estate transactions and facilitated preparation of restated financial statements. This project included: 1) analyzing technical accounting issues, 2) presenting results of our analysis to the Company’s audit committee and outside counsel and; 3) assisting the Company in its correspondence with the SEC.
Mr. Spinella received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maryland-College Park. He is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Maryland Association of Certified Public Accountants.

Caz Hashemi is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and chair of the firm’s litigation department. Clients turn to Caz for his proactive approach and strategic direction in leading complex, high-stakes investigations and litigation matters. He is regarded as a leading attorney advising clients involved in SEC, government, and internal investigations, having represented companies, boards, and special committees in more than 100 such matters during his career. Senior executives, directors, and other individuals also frequently engage Caz as personal counsel. He also regularly represents clients in securities class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, and stockholder litigation demands.

Caz has substantial expertise advising clients on the most complex and sensitive issues, including whistleblower allegations; financial restatements; accounting and disclosure items; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) matters; and insider trading. Audit committees and special committees often call upon Caz to conduct internal investigations involving these issues. He represents clients across a broad range of industries including technology, health care, consumer products, energy, financial services, life sciences, and telecommunications.

Prior to joining the firm, Caz served as an enforcement attorney with the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, where he investigated potential violations of the federal securities laws.

Melissa R. Hodgman is an Associate Director in the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. She joined the Commission in 2008, became Senior Counsel in 2009, joined the newly formed Market Abuse Unit in 2010, was promoted to Assistant Director in 2012, and to Associate Director in 2016. Melissa served as the Acting Director in 2021. She was an Associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy. She obtained a BSFS in 1990, a JD Magna cum Laude in 1994, and an LLM in Securities with Distinction in 2007 from Georgetown University.