Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency Update - Trends in Regulation and Enforcement

Kristen Pauley is an Assistant Director in the SEC's Division of Enforcement and a member of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit.

Lara Shalov Mehraban joined Sidley after serving 15 years at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). Lara has held various positions with the SEC, most recently as the acting director of the New York Regional Office. Prior to her appointment, Lara supervised the New York Office’s Enforcement Division as an associate regional director.

During her time at the SEC, Lara oversaw complex and high-stakes enforcement examinations and investigations and litigations covering all areas of the securities laws, including issues involving broker-dealers, investment advisers, exchanges, securities offerings, insider trading, cyber and public companies. As acting director of the New York Regional Office, she was responsible for supervising a large team of examiners, attorneys, investigators, accountants, and paralegals dedicated to examining registrants and investigating potential violations of the federal securities laws and litigating violations in federal courts. As associate regional director, Lara oversaw some of the SEC’s most complex and high stakes enforcement matters, including complex accounting frauds and some of the SEC’s first matters involving cryptocurrencies. Lara began her SEC career as a staff attorney and also served as a member of the Asset Management Unit and an assistant regional director. Lara’s experience gives her deep insight into the current priorities, policies, and practices of the SEC.

Lara brings a wealth of experience conducting investigations involving high profile and sensitive allegations. With a profound understanding of securities law, Lara advises her clients on all types of investigations, enforcement, and regulatory matters. Lara focuses her practice on representing individuals and companies before the SEC, the Department of Justice, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and state attorneys general. Lara is a frequent speaker on securities enforcement.

Earlier in her career, Lara was a litigation associate at two New York law firms where she handled white collar and securities enforcement matters and she clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Katherine Kirkpatrick is the Chief Legal Officer of Cboe Digital.

Prior to joining Cboe Digital, Katherine was General Counsel of Maple Finance, a capital-efficient corporate debt marketplace which facilitates crypto institutional borrowing via liquidity pools funded by the DeFi ecosystem. Before going “full-time crypto,” Katherine was a partner in the Special Matters and Government Investigations practice at King & Spalding, where she co-chaired the firm’s Financial Services Industry of Focus and the FinTech, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency working group. In private practice, Katherine represented corporations and individuals under investigation by a large number of regulators, including the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, NFA, OFAC, FINRA, state AGs, the NY DFS, the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the OCC, and the Fed. Katherine has extensive experience with digital assets and is a frequent writer and speaker on DeFi, cryptocurrency regulatory developments, anti-money laundering, and blockchain-related compliance. Katherine’s comments have been featured in publications such as the Financial Times, the American Banker, Coindesk, Reuters, and many others. In 2021, Katherine was recognized as “40 Under 40” by both Global Investigations Review and Benchmark Litigation.

Katherine earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School, where she serves on the Executive Advisory Committee of the board.

Abe Chernin’s primary areas of focus include consumer finance, banking, and real estate. Mr. Chernin has extensive experience with FinTech, asset-backed securities, private equity and venture capital, corporate and asset valuation, and general damages.

Mr. Chernin is the head of Cornerstone Research’s consumer finance practice. He has provided expertise for mortgage originators, servicers, and appraisers; credit card companies; student lenders; small dollar lenders; insurers; and retail and consumer banks. Across numerous consulting engagements, Mr. Chernin has analyzed business practices, credit decisions, payment/ACH issues, loss causation, damages, class certification issues, professional liability claims, and regulatory investigations. These projects have required careful evaluation of large datasets, sizable document production, or both.

Mr. Chernin plays a key role in the firm’s real estate practice, consulting on a wide variety of commercial and residential real estate transactions. He has significant experience with equity and debt project financing, real estate investments, and structured asset-backed securities. Mr. Chernin has assessed development projects in the context of industry standards and evaluated damages claims. His work on real estate investment trusts (REITs) includes extensive consulting on cases involving valuation, financial statements, and industry trends.

In support of Cornerstone Research’s FinTech capabilities, Mr. Chernin leads matters related to crypto token categorization, cryptocurrency exchanges, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and other forms of equity crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, and commercial uses for blockchain technology.

Mr. Chernin has given presentations on the economics of ICOs and cryptocurrency exchanges, and coauthored publications on the topic, including “Economic Considerations for ICO Regulation and Litigation” in Bloomberg Securities Law Daily. In addition, he has published research on the regulation of failed banks. His coauthored chapter, “Bank Failures: Regulatory Actions and Litigation,” appears in the fifth edition of Litigation Services Handbook: The Role of the Financial Expert.

Mr. Chernin serves on the governing board of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, a nonprofit focused on bringing economic justice to communities affected by poverty.

Prior to joining Cornerstone Research, Mr. Chernin worked in the capital markets section of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and at Citigroup Asset Management.

Jacquelyn M. Kasulis joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in January 2008, and was appointed Acting U.S. Attorney in June 2021. She has investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of criminal matters, including market manipulation, fraud involving publicly-traded companies, investment adviser fraud, money laundering and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Bank Secrecy Act.

During her time in the Office, Jacquelyn has worked on significant white collar cases. For example, Jacquelyn was the lead prosecutor in U.S. v. Martin Shkreli, in which Martin Shkreli was convicted in August 2017 of multiple counts of securities fraud. Jacquelyn also led the Office's prosecution in U.S. v. Low Taek Jho, et al. and U.S. v. Leissner, in which two former bankers and a wealthy Malaysian financier were charged for their participation in a multi-billion dollar money laundering and bribery conspiracy related to 1MDB, Malaysia's investment development fund. In October 2020, Goldman Sachs agreed to pay $2.9 billion in penalties as part of a global resolution with eight different foreign and domestic authorities for its role in the scheme. Jacquelyn was also the lead prosecuter in U.S. v. Bandfield, et al., in which nine defendants and six corporations, including three brokerage forms, were charged for their involvement in an elaborate $250 million offshore securities fraud, money laundering and tax evasion scheme.

Prior to joining the Office, Jacquelyn was a litigation associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in New York. She graduated with honors from Columbia Law School in 2003.