Mark Lanpher
Mark Lanpher

For his work as a prosecutor, the United States Attorney General awarded Mark with the John Marshall Award for Trial of Litigation in 2011, and in 2010, Mark was awarded the Federal Law Enforcement Foundation' s Prosecutor of the Year Award. 

While at the SEC, Mark played a leadership role in numerous significant SEC enforcement investigations, cases, and settlements, including enforcement actions targeting accounting fraud, offering fraud, CDOs, pump-and-dump schemes, and insider trading. 

In addition, Mark was a member of the SEC' s Cross-Border Working Group and played a key role in investigations and litigations targeting accounting fraud at China-based issuers, addressing the cross-border issues presented by such government investigations.

Prior to his Government service with the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, following law school, Mark served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Edward R. Korman on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and as a law clerk to Judge Reena Raggi on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Expertise

Industries

Experience

Representative matters

Government and Regulatory Investigations
  • Multiple financial institutions in recordkeeping investigations and resulting resolutions before the SEC and CFTC.
  • Multiple financial institutions in non-public CFTC investigations into aspects of the credit default swaps market.
  • Multiple public companies in non-public SEC investigations following the completion of de-SPAC transactions regarding claims made in proxy statements, each of which has resulted in a non-public declination.
  • Multiple public companies in SEC investigations following the issuance of restatements.
  • A global energy company in a non-public SEC investigation of a whistleblower’s allegations of FCPA violations in Asia, which resulted in a declination.
  • A global mining company in an FCPA investigation and resulting resolutions by both the SEC and DOJ.
  • A public company officer in an SEC and DOJ investigation regarding alleged misstatements across a range of securities offerings for multiple companies.
  • Multiple hedge funds in SEC and FINRA investigations of potential insider trading.
  • Multiple financial institutions in SEC and DOJ investigations of various benchmarking issues.
  • A major financial institution in an SEC investigation of market making activity and compliance with best-execution obligations.
  • A major financial institution in a FINRA investigation of its equities trading business.
  • A former government official in parallel Congressional and DOJ investigations related to 2016 U.S. Presidential Election.
  • A major financial institution in SEC and DOJ investigations related to pre-released ADR securities.
  • Multiple investment advisors in SEC investigations related to Rule 105 of Regulation M.
  • Multiple investment advisors in SEC investigations into expense allocation practices and valuation issues.
Internal Investigations
  • Multiple public company Boards and Special Committees in response to internal whistleblower allegations concerning financial and other reporting involving senior management.
  • A global energy company in response to internal whistleblower allegations regarding sanctions violations in Asia.
  • A major financial institution in response to a series of internally identified issues that raised potential Fed and OCC rule violations.
  • A major financial institution in response to a series of internally identified issues and losses resulting from operational control failures.
  • Multiple hedge funds in response to work place conduct allegations raised by whistleblowers.
Litigations
  • The Estate of Andrew J. McKelvey in litigation over alleged tax deficiency resulting from modifications to variable prepaid forward contracts, resulting in favorable decision based on issues of first impression.
  • Susquehanna International Group in litigation over tax obligations resulting from guarantees by foreign subsidiaries of U.S. debt obligations.
  • Ardagh in merger litigation in over whether an announced merger violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act.

Pro bono

  • Conducted bi-annual trainings for prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, along with a team of A&O Shearman partners, on various issues of trial strategy and examination technique.
  • Represented the heirs of journalist Marie Colvin in litigation against the Government of Syria under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act for extrajudicial killing, resulting in a $300 million judgment being entered in favor of our clients.
  • Representing an incarcerated individual on a pending habeas appeal before the D.C. Circuit raising considerable Brady issues discovered years after conviction.

Published Work

  • Lanpher, Mark and Schwartz, Adam, (2023) “SEC Investigations and Enforcement Actions”, Chapter 14: Securities Litigation: A Practitioner’s Guide, PLI Press
  • Lanpher, Mark, (2016) “‘Litvak’ Dicta Provides Counsel Fodder for Challenging Proof of Intent”, New York Law Journal
  • Lanpher, Mark, (2015) “Broken Windows: SEC’s Controversial Enforcement Philosophy Yields Record Results in 2014”, Bloomberg BNA Securities Regulation & Law Report
  • Lanpher, Mark, (2013) “New SEC Admission Policy May Be Tested Sooner Than Later”, Law360 Expert Analysis

Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, ACI’s 3rd National Forum on Securities Litigation & Enforcement, February 2014
  • Panelist, ACI’s 18th National Forum on D&O Liability, October 2014

Awards

  • Recognized as a “Future Star” by Benchmark Litigation in its 2015–2022 editions.

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