IAA 2022 Regional Compliance Roundtables

Gail C. Bernstein is general counsel of the IAA. She joined the IAA from the law firm of WilmerHale in Washington, D.C., where she had been a special counsel in the Securities Department. While in private practice, Bernstein counseled clients on all aspects of financial and securities regulation. Bernstein earned her B.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and her law degree from Harvard Law School in 1988. After law school, Bernstein clerked for the Honorable Douglas P. Woodlock of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and was an associate at the Boston law firm of Mintz Levin. Bernstein will speak at the San Francisco and Los Angeles Roundtables.

Monique S. Botkin is associate general counsel of the IAA. Prior to joining the IAA in 2004, she was an associate in the financial services groups at Dechert LLP in Newport Beach, California, and Alston & Bird LLP in Washington, DC. While in private practice, Botkin represented investment advisers, registered investment companies, private funds, and broker-dealers in corporate, securities and investment management matters. Botkin also served as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management disclosure review office from 2013 to 2014. She earned her B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland at College Park and her J.D., cum laude, from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, where she was an editor of the Law Review. Botkin will speak at the Atlanta Roundtable.

Marshall Gandy is a senior officer and national associate director of the Investment Adviser and Investment Company examination program in the SEC’s Division of Examinations, and he continues to serve as the associate regional director for examinations in the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office. Gandy joined the SEC’s Fort Worth office in 1999 as a staff attorney and trial counsel in the Division of Enforcement before taking the role of senior regional counsel in Dallas District Office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2008. Gandy began his legal career in Dallas County as a criminal court judge and an assistant district attorney. He obtained his J.D. from Southern Methodist University. Gandy will speak at the Washington, D.C., Roundtable.

Laura L. Grossman is associate general counsel of the IAA. She has more than 20 years of experience as an investment management attorney. Prior to joining the IAA in 2012, she was in private practice for over 10 years in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where she advised registered investment adviser, mutual fund and private fund clients on matters arising under the Investment Advisers Act, the Investment Company Act and other federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and associated regulations, and a wide range of compliance issues. Grossman received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Rutgers College, and she received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Grossman will speak at the Dallas Roundtable.

Michael Gunst is assistant regional director in the SEC’s Investment Adviser/Investment Company examination area. He joined the Commission’s Enforcement Division in 2003, working primarily on regulatory matters including market timing, performance fees, business development companies, and other investment adviser and investment company cases. Prior to the SEC, Gunst spent 15 years at the Texas State Securities Board working on examination and enforcement matters relating to regulated entities. He received his B.B.A. in Finance from St. Mary’s University and his J.D. from St. Mary’s Law School in San Antonio, Texas. Gunst will speak at the Dallas Roundtable.

Michele Wein Layne is the regional director of the SEC’s Los Angeles Regional Office. Prior to her appointment in 2012, Layne served as the associate regional director of the Los Angeles Regional Office’s enforcement program. She has conducted and supervised investigations and litigation involving financial reporting fraud, insider trading, misconduct by investment advisers and brokers, market manipulation, FCPA and other securities law violations. Before joining the SEC staff, she worked as a litigator in private practice. She received her law degree from the University of Southern California and her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. Layne will speak at the Los Angeles Roundtable.

William A. Nelson is associate general counsel at the IAA. Previously, he was assistant general counsel and public policy counsel at CFP Board and chief compliance officer for Mercer Advisors. He has also held roles as an attorney with both the U.S. Departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs. Nelson has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and George Washington University Law School. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tulsa, his J.D. with Honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, and his LL.M. from the George Washington University Law School. Nelson will speak at the Washington, D.C., Roundtable.

Elena Ro is an associate regional director for the Division of Examinations in the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. She joined the Commission in 2002 as a staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement, and a few years later joined Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit, which focuses on complex insider trading, market manipulation schemes, market structure, and cyber-related trading schemes and abusive practices. In 2014, she moved to the assistant regional director, operations, role in the San Francisco Regional Office until joining the Examinations team in 2022. Prior to the SEC, Ro was a litigation associate with Latham and Watkins. She received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from Yale University. Ro will speak at the San Francisco Roundtable.

John P. Sweeney is the strategic risk coordinator in the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office and previously served as an exam manager in the SEC’s Washington, D.C. Office and focused on Investment Adviser/Investment Company examinations. Before joining the Commission, he worked in the private sector in various capacities, including roles as a controller and compliance manager for a Boston-based private fund adviser and as compliance officer at global hedge fund administrator in New York. He also served in several roles at a large mutual fund complex. Sweeney received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts. Sweeney will speak at the Atlanta Roundtable.