The Impact of AI on Securities Enforcement, Regulation, Compliance and Practice

Jeremiah Williams is a partner in Ropes & Gray’s litigation and enforcement practice group, focusing on securities enforcement as well as transactional and securities litigation. In his capacity as a litigator and former government enforcement attorney, Jeremiah has represented and prosecuted individuals and organizations—particularly in the financial services industry—in both the private and public sectors. Jeremiah also has deep expertise with valuation matters, and regularly advises public companies on merger and appraisal litigation actions in the Delaware Court of Chancery, as well as a wide range of securities litigation matters.
Prior to joining Ropes & Gray, Jeremiah was Senior Counsel in the Division of Enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While at the SEC, he was a member of the Asset Management Unit, a specialized group investigating potential misconduct involving registered investment companies and private funds, with a particular focus on the Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act. He also previously spent six years in the financial industry, where he worked with derivatives and developed quantitative models used for valuing and hedging complex financial instruments. Jeremiah has held the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation for more than 20 years.

Carolyn Welshhans is an Associate Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. Ms. Welshhans has conducted and supervised numerous investigations, including those involving insider trading, market structure, financial fraud, market manipulation, hacking, and registration violations.
Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Welshhans was in private practice. She received her J.D. from the Boston College Law School, and she received her B.A. from the College of William and Mary.

James Walker represents executive-level professionals in securities regulatory matters, internal investigations, and Am Law-ranked law firms and attorneys in professional liability matters. He has over 20 years of experience representing clients in government enforcement actions, and currently focuses much of his practice representing Fintech clients in securities regulatory matters. James is frequently engaged in parallel proceedings involving simultaneous government investigations and related litigation.
James has been active in state bar committees focused on professional ethics and developing standards of professional conduct and has served on multiple New York City Bar Association committees, including Professional Discipline, Professional and Judicial Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and Securities Regulation. James is a frequent lecturer on securities enforcement and professional ethics, and has published articles and spoken about cryptocurrency enforcement for several years. He also serves on the editorial board of the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual of Professional Conduct and Law360’s Legal Ethics publication.

Bridget Moore is Co-Chair of the firm's Litigation Department. Ms. Moore's practice focuses on securities enforcement, internal investigations and white collar defense. In particular, she helps clients settle enforcement matters brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Prior to joining Baker Botts in May 2003, Ms. Moore worked as a staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement at the SEC. While at the SEC, she conducted investigations involving the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, proxy violations, insider trading and various disclosure and reporting violations. In addition, Ms. Moore participated in trials centering on the fraudulent promotion of stocks, earning her the Enforcement Division Director’s Award for Trial Work.
Ms. Moore was shortlisted as one of five national finalists for the “Up and Coming Regulatory Lawyer of the Year” award presented by Chambers USA (2012).

Gregory Baker is a Partner in the firm’s Litigation department and Chair of its Securities Enforcement & Litigation group. He is also a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations group. A former Senior Counsel for the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Enforcement Division with extensive experience investigating and litigating securities laws violations, Mr. Baker provides strategic advice to individuals and businesses in financial services and other industries. He serves as a key advisor on investigations and litigation strategy and applies his firsthand knowledge of the SEC to help clients manage risk and achieve positive outcomes in matters led by financial regulators. Mr. Baker was recognized by JD Supra's Readers' Choice Awards as one of the top ten authors in the Securities category in 2023.
Mr. Baker served for five years in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, most recently as a member of the Asset Management Unit, where he managed investigations and litigations concerning investment advisors, hedge funds, private equity funds, and mutual funds. His matters involved issues such as hedge fund valuations, private equity fee disclosures, compliance violations, market manipulation, performance advertising, insider trading, derivative arbitrage, and accounting. He has worked extensively with the DOJ, FBI, FINRA, IRS, and other federal agencies in his investigations. He received four Directors’ Awards from the Division of Enforcement in recognition of his outstanding achievements in investigative work.
Mr. Baker’s notable enforcement actions included the fraudulent mismarking of mortgage-backed securities by principals and traders at a registered investment advisor and a fraudulent scheme by certain company insiders to take undisclosed control of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of publicly traded stock of a Fortune 500 company, both of which led to parallel criminal actions brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He also investigated and filed the first enforcement action brought by the SEC against a robo-advisor in a matter alleging violations of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
Before joining the public sector, Mr. Baker spent over seven years in private practice at two AmLaw 50 firms, where he focused on a broad range of matters for financial institutions and corporations, including securities class action lawsuits, complex contract disputes, internal investigations, employment disputes, and bankruptcy adversary proceedings. Representing both plaintiffs and defendants, Mr. Baker has experience in structured products litigation, antitrust matters, complex contractual disputes, intellectual property disputes, and criminal defense matters. Prior to joining Patterson Belknap, he returned to private practice at a national law firm where he focused on securities litigation and white collar criminal defense and investigations.
He previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable William H. Walls of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.