The SEC's Scrutiny of Asset Managers - Key Developments for Broker-Dealers, Private Funds and Hedge Funds

Mr. Smith is an experienced trial lawyer, having tried many cases in federal and state courts around the country. These cases typically involve complex securities, accounting, financial or bankruptcy-related issues. He has represented many companies and their officers and directors in securities and derivative litigation, including Bank of America, Fifth Third Bank, UBS, Sprint Corporation, Fidelity Investments and Allstate Corporation.
He has extensive experience navigating complex multi-layered matters that involve both litigation and regulatory enforcement. Mr. Smith has represented many companies and individuals in SEC, DOJ, CFTC and FINRA enforcement matters. Among these clients are Bank of America, CME Group and Ameriprise Financial. He regularly represents corporate officers and directors in investigations.
Mr. Smith also has represented a number of clients in high-profile investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He has represented a major financial exchange, manufacturers, medical device companies and many other clients in investigations, as well as transaction due diligence and training on compliance matters.
Mr. Smith is a frequent speaker on litigation, compliance and enforcement issues. He is a 2014 recipient of the Excellence in the Law Award from the National Diversity Council. This award recognizes attorneys in the Chicago area who have distinguished themselves through their leadership, resolve and outstanding achievements for the benefit of their clients, collaborators and communities. Mr. Smith is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and is a trustee emeritus at Knox College, in Galesburg, Illinois. Selected by the board of trustees of the University of Chicago, Mr. Smith previously served on its Law School Council, a body comprised of judges, senior corporate executives and practicing lawyers that advises the law school on strategic matters.
Mr. Smith has been ranked repeatedly in Band 1 of Chambers USA for his work in securities litigation, with clients describing him as a “masterful practitioner” and an “outstanding attorney.” He also has been recognized repeatedly in The Best Lawyers in America and named a Client Service All-Star by The BTI Consulting Group.

John Sikora is a member of the Litigation & Trial Department. Mr. Sikora represents companies and their officers and directors in SEC and FINRA enforcement investigations and examinations. Mr. Sikora’s clients include public companies, fund managers, investment advisers, and financial services firms. Mr. Sikora also advises clients on securities-related compliance.
Prior to joining Latham & Watkins, he was an Assistant Director in the Chicago Regional Office and in the Asset Management Unit of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, a national specialized unit that focuses on misconduct by investment advisers, investment companies, and private funds.
During his 16 year tenure at the SEC, Mr. Sikora was responsible for supervising all types of SEC enforcement activities, including investigations involving public company accounting fraud and other disclosure violations, misconduct by investment advisers, broker-dealers and auditors, and insider trading. Many of the investigations supervised by Mr. Sikora resulted in parallel prosecutions by the Department of Justice.
Mr. Sikora is a frequent speaker and panelist on securities law issues. Mr. Sikora earned the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation in April 2012.

Kurt Gottschall is a partner in Haynes Boone’s Denver office, where his nationwide practice focuses on representing public companies and their officers and directors, auditors, investment advisers, broker-dealers and individuals in investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other government agencies, as well as internal investigations and regulatory compliance.
Kurt joined the firm after serving as the Director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office, where he managed more than 100 staff and oversaw all of the office’s enforcement investigations, litigation and examinations of SEC registrants in an eight-state region. Kurt’s tenure as Regional Director capped a 22-year career with the SEC, in which he previously led the SEC’s enforcement program in Denver and served as an Assistant Director in the Division of Enforcement’s Asset Management Unit.
Kurt also has significant experience with investigations and examinations by other financial industry regulators and government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), and state securities regulators and attorneys general.
Drawing upon his extensive SEC institutional knowledge and experience in conducting and supervising hundreds of securities enforcement actions, Kurt is highly effective in helping Haynes Boone clients successfully navigate crises and defend their interests.

Ann Gittleman is a managing director for the Expert Services practice. She focuses on providing expert forensic and dispute assistance in fraud and internal investigations, white collar investigations and compliance reviews. She is experienced in accounting and auditor malpractice matters, and related Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) guidance and damages.
She has worked on U.S. regulatory investigations involving the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Furthermore, she has a background in forensic accounting, asset tracing, commercial disputes, commercial damages, and lost profits analysis. Ann works on bankruptcy investigations, as a financial advisor in U.S. bankruptcies, purchase price and post-acquisition disputes, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) reviews.
Ann is based in New York, has over 15 years of forensic accounting experience, and has led substantial international projects in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean, and China. Ann has been retained as a testifying expert in numerous matters, including asset tracing, fraud and corruption, financial reporting, the application of GAAP and GAAS and damages calculations. She also frequently consults on complex accounting reporting and SEC matters.
Ann joined Kroll with the acquisition of Kinetic Partners, where she was a director and co-head of the New York Forensic and Dispute Services practice. Ann joined Kinetic Partners from a prestigious New York law firm where she practiced securities litigation and provided in-house forensic accounting consulting services. Previously, Ann worked on auditor negligence matters as an in-house forensic accountant and legal assistant at the Office of the General Counsel at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Prior to that, she was an auditor in the alternative investment management group at PwC in New York City, where she audited hedge funds, venture capital funds, private equity funds, and commodity pools.
Ann received her J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and her B.S./B.A. in both Accounting and Computer Information Science from Bryant University. She is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified in Financial Forensics, a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, and Accredited in Business Valuation. Ann is also a licensed attorney admitted in both New York and Massachusetts, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of the Bar of the City of NY, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.