SEC Enforcement of Issuer Disclosure, Financial Fraud and Auditors

Fuad represents companies, financial institutions and individuals in investigations before the SEC, DOJ and other regulatory authorities. He also conducts internal investigations on behalf of companies and advises clients on regulatory compliance and mitigating enforcement risk.

Fuad was previously Assistant Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, where he led investigations across the agency’s enforcement jurisdiction, with particular focus on matters involving public company accounting and disclosure, broker-dealers, auditor liability and the FCPA. He also supervised investigations in emerging areas such as ESG, cybersecurity and Regulation Best Interest. Fuad played a lead role in several “sweeps” and initiatives focused on public company financial reporting, including the Division’s Earnings Per Share Initiative. He has significant experience conducting cross-border investigations, including coordinating multi-jurisdiction resolutions with foreign authorities.

Craig represents issuers in SEC and DOJ matters involving allegations of accounting fraud and reporting failures. He also serves as personal counsel for executives and directors in government and internal investigations. Craig regularly advises Audit and Special Committees in investigations involving allegations of corporate misconduct. He also represents issuers and individuals in private class and derivative actions in state and federal court, as well as in other types of complex litigation.

Craig has been recognized for his work by Securities Docket in their 2020 “Enforcement 40” list of the best 40 securities enforcement defense lawyers in the business.

In addition to his practice, Craig serves as a firmwide Managing Partner.

Craig served as an enforcement attorney in the SEC’s San Francisco office from 1999 to 2002. During his tenure at the SEC, he worked closely with attorneys and investigators from the DOJ on both financial accounting fraud and insider trading matters, and investigated numerous violations of the federal securities laws, including financial accounting fraud and audit failures. Craig also brought one of the largest insider trading cases in SEC history, in which 15 individuals were charged with illegal trading.

Craig is regularly quoted in such publications as the Daily Journal, The Recorder, and GC Magazine. Additionally, he has spoken about internal investigation procedures, securities litigation and enforcement, corporate governance, and compliance with the FCPA to, among others, the Practising Law Institute, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the National Society of Compliance Professionals, the California Bankers Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Craig earned his B.A. in 1990 from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of the Stanford Law Review.

Michael Garibaldi is a Managing Director at FTI Consulting and is based in San Francisco. Mr. Garibaldi directs large-scale investigative and litigation matters involving forensic accounting, financial fraud, compliance, complex data analysis and technical accounting.

Mr. Garibaldi routinely conducts corporate investigations regarding potential fraud or employee misconduct for boards of directors, audit committees, special committees and company management. These investigations typically arise from government inquires, subpoenas, audit findings, and whistleblower allegations and can involve complex technical accounting and disclosure issues, big data analytics and extensive flow-of-funds analysis. Mr. Garibaldi has presented his investigative findings to U.S. government agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mr. Garibaldi’s litigation and dispute advisory services involve providing financial analysis in connection with high-stakes commercial disputes in federal and state courts and arbitrations. Mr. Garibaldi has extensive experience serving clients related to securities litigation, white-collar defense cases, labor and employment disputes, and consumer and shareholder class actions. Mr. Garibaldi has advised on litigation matters involving complex financial transactions, accounting and auditing, breach of contract claims, valuation, mergers and acquisitions and the calculation of economic damages.

Mr. Garibaldi has served clients in a wide array of industries, including financial services, venture capital, technology, software, energy, and government. Mr. Garibaldi’s clients have ranged in size from global financial institutions to early stage start-up technology ventures. He was previously an auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he provided audit and assurance services to public and private companies in the financial services and investment management industries.

Mr. Garibaldi graduated with honors from California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, where he earned a B.S. in business administration, with concentrations in public accounting and financial management. Mr. Garibaldi was an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate University, where he taught a forensic accounting course on conducting independent corporate financial investigations. Mr. Garibaldi is a Certified Public Accountant and is the former Chair of the Forensic Services-Fraud and Financial Investigations section of the California Society of CPAs.

A former Assistant Director in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement, Jen represents public and pre-IPO companies, corporate officers, financial institutions, and asset management firms in high-stakes regulatory investigations, internal investigations, and litigation. Jen brings nearly twenty years of experience as a litigator in the government and the private sector to help clients navigate government scrutiny.
During her distinguished 12-year tenure at the SEC, Jen supervised attorneys and accountants in a broad range of complex investigations and enforcement actions reflecting the priorities of the SEC’s enforcement program, including financial reporting and disclosures, cybersecurity issues, ESG-related issues, insider trading, crypto asset securities, investment adviser and broker-dealer regulation, auditor misconduct, and offering frauds. While at the SEC, Jen earned a reputation for successfully navigating the inner workings of the SEC to bring meaningful enforcement actions quickly and effectively. Jen oversaw some of the SEC’s most impactful cases, including the SEC’s first-of-its-kind cybersecurity disclosure enforcement action involving a company’s failure to disclose a massive data breach, several litigated multimillion-dollar insider trading ring actions, and a complex accounting fraud settlement involving significant clawbacks of executive compensation under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
As a highly regarded expert on the SEC’s enforcement program and federal securities laws, Jen is a frequent speaker at industry events, including Securities Enforcement Forum West and the Bar Association of San Francisco. Jen earned her AB from Stanford University and her JD from Columbia Law School. She clerked for the Honorable Richard J. Holwell in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, and for the Honorable Roger L. Gregory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Before joining the SEC, Jen was a securities and commercial litigator, with experience in securities fraud class actions, commercial actions, and products liability litigation.