SEC, NYDFS and Other Financial Regulators: Navigating the New Cyber-Regulatory Paradigm

Jorge G. Tenreiro is the Deputy Chief of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Crypto Asset and Cyber Unit. In that role, he has supervised investigations that resulted in SEC lawsuits against SEC registrants with respect to certain cyber security interests and against significant participants in the crypto asset markets, including Samuel Bankman-Fried in connection with the collapse of FTX.
Previously, Mr. Tenreiro served as the Enforcement Counsel to SEC Chair Gary Gensler, providing advice to the Chair as to all matters relating to the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Before that, he was a Senior Trial Counsel in the Division of Enforcement of the SEC, New York Regional Office.
Since joining the SEC in 2013, Mr. Tenreiro has obtained specialized knowledge regarding the application of the federal securities laws to crypto-related transactions and obtained significant experience litigating various matters brought by the agency, including fraudulent offerings and pump and dump schemes. Mr. Tenreiro was also the lead litigating counsel in various crypto-related matters, including the litigation in the SEC’s first two ICO scam cases, the landmark litigation in SEC v. Telegram Group, Inc., the litigation in SEC v. Ripple Labs, and other high-profile crypto-related matters.
Throughout his career at the SEC, Mr. Tenreiro has taken matters to favorable verdicts for the SEC before federal juries, conducted successful administrative and bench proceedings, and argued over a dozen times in federal court.
Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Tenreiro was a law clerk for the Honorable Julio M. Fuentes for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and a law clerk to the Honorable Allyne R. Ross of the Eastern District of New York. From October 2006 to August 2007 and from September 2008 to August 2012, Mr. Tenreiro was an associate in the litigation department of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP. Mr. Tenreiro is a 2006 graduate of Yale Law School and in May 2003, Mr. Tenreiro obtained his B.A., magna cum laude with distinction in Economics and Mathematics from Yale University.
Throughout his career, Mr. Tenreiro has also devoted significant time to matters of interest to the LGBTQ community. In 2009, Mr. Tenreiro was co-counsel in lawsuit securing a victory at summary judgment under the ADA on behalf of an HIV teenager denied admission to a basketball summer camp on the basis of his HIV-status. In 2011, Mr. Tenreiro authored an amicus brief in support of the law school in the Supreme Court case Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, which recognized the school’s ability to impose rules barring discrimination against LGBTQ individuals on law school student groups. In 2012, Mr. Tenreiro co-authored a brief in support of a disabled veteran’s request for same-sex spousal benefits before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Tenreiro served as a member of the LGBT Committee of the New York City and he currently serves as a member of the LGBT Bar of Greater New York’s Judiciary Committee.

Luke Tenery, a Partner with StoneTurn, brings nearly 20 years of experience helping leading organizations mitigate complex cybersecurity, data privacy and data protection risks. He applies extensive expertise in cyber investigations, threat intelligence, incident response, and information risk management to assist clients across the threat and risk continuum—from prevention to detection, mitigation through to remediation and transformation. Luke specializes in situational corporate cyber risks. He helps organizations across a range of industries align robust information security risk management with high- impact initiatives including remediation, M&A due diligence and integration, cyber cost analyses, digital transformation, and Secure Operations Center (SOC) and threat intelligence program development. Luke also assists public companies and their Boards in remediating the long-standing control issues that lead to cyber incidents.

Prior to joining StoneTurn, Luke founded the global cyber practice and led the cyber response, investigations, and intelligence practice of an international consulting firm, handling a range of active and emergent cybersecurity threats. Earlier in his career, Luke rose to Deputy Cyber Practice Leader over a 15-year tenure with a global risk management and investigations firm.

Luke is a certified chief information security officer (C/CISO). He has performed interim technology and information security leadership functions for his clients. Luke has also advised on cyber issues at the intersection of risk and compliance, as well as those related to financial fraud and data integrity He is a thought leader and frequent author and speaker on topics including incident response, security data analytics, incident remediation, and cybersecurity compliance in the context of payment card industry (PCI) and CFIUS compliance, among other regulatory enforcement issues.

A. Kristina Littman is a partner in the Litigation Department, Co-Chair of the Willkie Digital Works practice and a member of the Securities Litigation & Enforcement Practice Group. Kristy represents corporations, registrants and individuals in complex disputes, including regulatory enforcement and white collar defense. She also counsels clients on cryptocurrency and digital assets regulation and cybersecurity matters, including investigations and enforcement actions by financial regulators.

Kristy previously served as the Chief of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit in the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In that role, she led a group of attorneys and specialists across the nation responsible for investigating and litigating violations of the federal securities laws relating to digital assets, cybersecurity, and cyber-related trading violations. Kristy spearheaded novel enforcement actions relating to crypto exchanges, crypto lending platforms, multibillion-dollar token issuances, crypto trading funds, touting, and unregistered broker-dealers. During her 12 years at the SEC, Kristy held various senior attorney and leadership positions, including serving as Senior Advisor to then SEC Chairman Jay Clayton on enforcement matters and regulatory and policy matters pertaining to digital assets, cybersecurity, and Trading and Markets.

In the Trial Unit and the Market Abuse Unit, Kristy led investigations relating to fraudulent compensation schemes at broker-dealers, policy and procedures failures at investment advisers, and litigated insider trading actions. Prior to joining the SEC in 2010, Kristy practiced at an international law firm.

Nicole Friedlander is a partner in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Criminal Defense and Investigations Group and co-head of its Cybersecurity Practice. Ms. Friedlander represents clients in complex internal investigations, regulatory enforcement proceedings and criminal matters involving every aspect of white-collar crime, including fraud, FCPA, insider trading, theft of trade secrets, money laundering and tax matters. Ms. Friedlander also advises major corporations and Boards of Directors in cybersecurity planning and incident response.
She currently serves as co-chair of the New York Chapter of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association and as a member of the New York City Bar Association’s White Collar Crime Committee. Ms. Friedlander has been ranked by Chambers USA 2021 for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations, where sources praised her “impress[ive] facility and judgment,” her ability to “quietly command[] the room with her skilled preparation,” and her standout trial skills (“She is so good in court.”).
Ms. Friedlander joined the Firm in 2016 from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where she was Chief of the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, and served for over eight years. In white-collar, among a wide range of cases, Ms. Friedlander led major prosecutions of offshore banks for facilitating tax evasion; secured one of the largest-ever FCPA resolutions; led cutting edge prosecutions of virtual currency exchangers for money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations; and brought a groundbreaking racketeering case against the owner of multibillion-dollar payday lending companies.
In cybersecurity, Ms. Friedlander led the successful investigation of the largest-ever cyber theft of customer data from a U.S. financial institution; oversaw the indictment of Iranian state-sponsored hackers for coordinating cyberattacks on 46 financial institutions; and prosecuted a Russian national for hacking U.S. banks in a case the FBI named one of its top ten of the year. Ms. Friedlander was also a part of the litigation team that challenged an internet services provider to comply with a warrant, leading to Congress’ passage of the CLOUD Act. During her tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Ms. Friedlander also successfully tried numerous federal criminal cases and briefed and argued appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.