Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “Fintech specialist” Neel Maitra has joined the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Washington, DC. According to the law firm, Maitra will be a member of Wilson Sonsini’s securities regulatory and complex transactions group.
While at the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, Maitra specialized in Fintech and cryptocurrency issues. Maitra joined the SEC at a pivotal time in 2016. Maitra emerged as one of the SEC’s experts on a diverse range of issues including initial coin offerings (ICOs), broker-dealer regulation of cryptocurrency companies, and online trading platforms. Maitra was also involved with matters concerning 1940 Act-registered funds, digital asset trading platforms (including alternative trading systems, or “ATSs”), and issues related to digital assets and DeFi.
Maitra reportedly worked on several proposals to create cryptocurrency-based, exchange-traded products, including the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust; the first proposal to create a national securities exchange for digitally enhanced securities, and various efforts to address the custody of digital securities. Maitra was also a delegate to the SEC’s FinHub, the entity that was central to defining the regulatory treatment of digital assets and blockchain-related products.
Maitra stated that he is excited about joining Wilson Sonsini because its ability to deliver legal services to bold market creators in the fintech sector.
“I look forward to the opportunity to leverage my experience to help the firm’s clients define the new Fintech frontier.”
Doug Clark, Managing Partner at Wilson Sonsini, said:
“He understands the intricacies of applicable securities laws, regulatory priorities, and enforcement efforts, and the extent to which those can be advantageous or disadvantageous to Fintech clients.”
Before joining the SEC, Maitra was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in Washington, D.C., and started his career at Covington & Burling. Maitra earned his J.D. from Columbia Law Schoo