Somashekara’s arrival marks a reunion with his former McGuireWoods partner John Lukanski, who himself returned to Reed Smith in 2018. Together with their partners Thao Ngo and Jeff Silberman, they form the foundation for Reed Smith’s broker-dealer and investment adviser practice, an area of specific need for the firm’s institutional bank clients, as well as regional banks and other financial and non-bank institutions with broker-dealer affiliates.
Somashekara represents financial institutions and registered professionals nationwide in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions initiated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and other federal and state financial regulators. He also counsels firms and individuals on compliance with federal and state grand jury subpoenas, other law enforcement inquiries and related litigation and arbitration matters. throughout the country in complex regulatory investigations and enforcement actions initiated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and state securities regulators, and in securities litigation and arbitration.
Somashekara has also has led dozens of complex internal investigations and in doing so, has counselled firms and their legal, compliance, risk, human resources and employee relations professionals on a wide range of issues including sales practice violations, operational deficiencies, potential supervisory liability, reputational risk, compliance with industry rules and regulations, the development and enhancement of policies and procedures, employee misconduct, corrective action, and customer remediation.
“Very few attorneys possess the versatility and experience Kiran has in representing broker-dealers in federal, state and FINRA regulatory investigations and enforcement, internal reviews, litigation and arbitration, and compliance counselling,” said Ed Estrada, global chair of Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group. “Kiran represents the next building block for our growing broker-dealer practice, and we are very excited to have him return to the firm.”
Somashekara commented, “Reed Smith offers an unparalleled global platform to advise financial institutions on a wide array of legal and business issues. I am thrilled to rejoin the firm and my longtime partner and colleague John Lukanski as I look forward to expanding upon the great work they have been doing in the broker-dealer space. I am excited to once again be a part of this impressive team.”
Lukanski added, “There are very few lawyers who know what they are doing in the broker-dealer space, who appreciate that many matters present multi-dimensional risks that need to be coordinated – regulatory, customer, reputational and litigation. Kiran is one of those folks who has been in the trenches on the most complex and ugly matters for clients.”
Somashekara received his J.D. with honors from George Washington University, and holds a B.A. with honors from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
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