With new types of digital assets and related business on the rise, federal authorities have been busy investigating.  Recently, the SEC, FinCEN and the CFTC have imposed some notable settlements involving cryptocurrency trading platforms for allegedly operating without appropriate approvals from financial regulatory authorities.  This may be the start of the next wave of government enforcement activities.

Read the full post on Proskauer’s The Capital Commitment blog.

Photo of Julia M. Ansanelli Julia M. Ansanelli

Julia Ansanelli is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations, Securities Litigation, and Asset Management Litigation Practice Groups.  She has worked extensively defending clients facing criminal and regulatory investigations by the Securities and…

Julia Ansanelli is an associate in the Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations, Securities Litigation, and Asset Management Litigation Practice Groups.  She has worked extensively defending clients facing criminal and regulatory investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Federal Trade Commission.  She is also a member of the litigation team that represents the Financial Oversight and Management Board in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy proceedings.  Julia has experience with various stages of complex commercial litigation, both in federal and state courts.

Julia maintains an active pro bono practice, with an emphasis on immigration law, and in particular, special immigrant juvenile status.  In recognition of her pro bono efforts, Julia received a Proskauer Golden Gavel award in 2018 in connection with an amicus brief she helped prepare in support of a class of thousands of immigrant youth that had been denied special immigrant juvenile status in New York based on a then-new USCIS policy.  The class of immigrant youth were ultimately successful when the Southern District of New York judge agreed that the USCIS policy violated federal immigration law.

During law school, she served as Case Note Editor of the Touro Law Review, in which she published two case notes of her own, and Vice President of Touro’s Latin American Law School Association. Julia also interned for the Honorable Magistrate Kathleen Tomlinson in the Eastern District of New York.

Julia is a frequent contributor to Proskauer’s Minding Your Business and Capital Commitment blogs.  She has also been recognized as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” from 2020-2023.

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Photo of Joshua M. Newville Joshua M. Newville

Joshua M. Newville is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of Proskauer’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Group and the Asset Management Litigation team.

Josh handles securities litigation, enforcement and regulatory matters, representing corporations and senior executives in civil and…

Joshua M. Newville is a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of Proskauer’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Group and the Asset Management Litigation team.

Josh handles securities litigation, enforcement and regulatory matters, representing corporations and senior executives in civil and criminal investigations. In addition, Josh advises registered investment advisers and private fund managers on regulatory compliance, SEC exams, MNPI/insider trading and related risks.

Before joining Proskauer, Josh was senior counsel in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, where he investigated and prosecuted violations of the federal securities laws. Josh served in the Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, a specialized unit focusing on investment advisers and the asset management industry. His prior experience with the SEC provides a unique perspective to help asset managers manage risk and handle regulatory issues.

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Photo of Seetha Ramachandran Seetha Ramachandran

Seetha Ramachandran is a partner in the Litigation Department, and a member of the White Collar and Asset Management Litigation practices. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, Seetha has conducted 10 criminal jury trials, argued 10 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals…

Seetha Ramachandran is a partner in the Litigation Department, and a member of the White Collar and Asset Management Litigation practices. An experienced trial and appellate lawyer, Seetha has conducted 10 criminal jury trials, argued 10 appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and handled ancillary civil proceedings in forfeiture cases.

Seetha is a leading expert in anti-money laundering (AML), Bank Secrecy Act, economic sanctions and asset forfeiture matters. Her practice focuses on white collar and regulatory enforcement defense, internal investigations, and compliance counseling. She represents banks, broker dealers, hedge funds, private equity funds, online payment companies, and individual executives and officers in high stakes and sensitive matters. Seetha has deep experience representing institutions and individuals in financial penalty phase of criminal and regulatory matters, and is often retained to litigate forfeiture and restitution claims on behalf of victims and third parties in criminal cases, as well as handling these issues for individual defendants.

Seetha served as a federal prosecutor for nearly 10 years, including as Deputy Chief in the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section (AFMLS), Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice. She was the first head of DOJ’s Money Laundering & Bank Integrity Unit, where she supervised DOJ’s first major AML prosecutions, and oversaw all of the Criminal Division’s AML cases. In that role, Seetha coordinated closely with state and federal banking regulators, including FinCEN, the OCC and the New York State Department of Financial Services, giving her deep experience with how these agencies work together, especially in matters involving civil and criminal liability. Her work developing and charging criminal cases under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) formed the model for AML enforcement that regulators and prosecutors follow today.

Seetha also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for nearly six years, in the Complex Frauds, Major Crimes and Asset Forfeiture units where she investigated and prosecuted white-collar cases involving a wide range of financial crimes, including bank fraud, mail and wire fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, stolen art and cultural property, and civil and criminal forfeiture cases.

Seetha is a frequent speaker and prolific author on topics including enforcement trends in the financial services industry, OFAC sanctions, effective AML programs and asset forfeiture.

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