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Lauren Mann

Lauren H. Mann Associate

New York T +1 212 548 7042 F fax +1 212 715 6264
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Lauren is a litigator in McGuireWoods’ Financial Services & Securities Enforcement Department. Her practice focuses on government and internal investigations, anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, enforcement defense, and related litigation. She represents financial institutions, broker-dealers, cross-border and international companies, and individuals in investigations and enforcement actions before the SEC, FINRA, DOJ, OCC, FDIC, state regulators, and grand juries.

Lauren advises financial institutions on Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/AML compliance, including Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) confidentiality, customer due diligence, and beneficial ownership reporting. She counsels clients on responding to subpoenas and law enforcement requests that involve confidential SAR information, including the related obligations to notify FinCEN and the OCC. She also defends financial institutions in DOJ asset forfeiture matters, combining her AML compliance knowledge with litigation advocacy. Lauren has published more than a dozen articles on the Corporate Transparency Act, beneficial ownership reporting, and SEC, FINRA, and FinCEN actions.

Lauren conducts and manages sensitive internal investigations from intake through resolution, from scoping and forensic collection through witness interviews and investigative findings. She evaluates employee conduct and advises clients on discipline and the related regulatory disclosures. She also identifies the root causes of control weaknesses and designs remediation to address them. Lauren regularly presents her findings to audit committees, often under time-sensitive deadlines. Lauren also regularly conducts Spanish-language interviews and document review in cross-border investigations.

In addition to her investigations and regulatory practice, Lauren represents individual and corporate clients in litigation, often in disputes that grow out of regulatory and enforcement matters. Her litigation experience includes financial services litigation and arbitration, securities class actions, general commercial litigation, and Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) litigation. She frequently serves as lead drafter of dispositive motions and briefs.

Lauren also maintains an active pro bono practice. She has defended asylum seekers in removal proceedings, assisted juveniles with petitions for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJ), and handled criminal record expungement matters.

Before joining McGuireWoods, Lauren practiced as a litigator at a New York-based law firm. There she represented global corporations, financial institutions, and select individuals in matters involving anti-corruption compliance, internal investigations, white collar defense, criminal inquiries, and securities and regulatory enforcement.

Experience

AML and Bank Secrecy Act

  • Representation of a financial institutions in a DOJ asset forfeiture matters.
  • Counsel to a national bank on SAR confidentiality, protocols for responding to civil and criminal subpoenas, and regulatory notification obligations to FinCEN and the OCC.
  • Advise financial institutions on BSA/AML compliance, including customer due diligence and beneficial ownership requirements.
  • Representation of financial institutions responding to a grand jury subpoena and law enforcement inquiries.

Securities Enforcement and Regulatory Investigations

  • Representation of an individual affiliated with a U.S.-listed foreign issuer in connection with SEC allegations of false and misleading statements.
  • Representation of an attorney in a parallel SEC inquiry and related SDNY action, resulting in an SEC declination with no charges or sanctions.
  • Representation of a broker-dealer in an SEC investigation, part of an industry-wide sweep, into the suitability of 529 plan share classes.
  • Representation of an executive in an SEC investigation and subsequent federal litigation concerning a fraudulent EB-5 program.
  • Representation of broker-dealers in matters under FINRA and SRO rules governing supervision, TFCE examinations, option order ticket marking, prospectus delivery, Regulation M, IPO Trading, Rule 611, CAT reporting, and books and records rules.
  • Representation of a broker-dealer responding to FINRA’s sweep of retail options practices.
  • Representation of a broker-dealer and financial advisors in a FINRA investigation into mutual fund surveillance, sales practices, and procedures.
  • Representation of a broker-dealer in a FINRA enforcement action concerning supervision and controls over journals of new issue products from brokerage to advisory accounts.
  • Representation of a broker-dealer in an SEC enforcement investigation into misrepresentations by an investment adviser, which ended with no charges brought.
  • Representation of financial institutions responding to inquiries from the OCC, the FDIC, the SBA, and state securities regulators.

Internal Investigations

  • Led a fast-paced internal investigation for a public company tied to an SEC filing deadline.
  • Representation of financial institutions in investigations of financial advisor misconduct and outside business activities.
  • Representation of an individual in an internal investigation conducted by company counsel.
  • Representation of broker-dealers in internal investigations and regulatory disclosure of errors in the firm’s securities trading reports.
  • Representation of financial institutions in confidential investigations and inquiries.

Cross-Border Investigations

  • Representation of a foreign client facing development bank allegations of bribery and collusion, including negotiating the resolution agreement with the development bank.
  • Conducted a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance review of a multinational automobile manufacturer relating to one of its foreign subsidiaries.
  • Conducted an assessment of the investigations function of a multinational automobile manufacturer for compliance with the DOJ’s Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs (ECCP).
  • Representation of the foreign affiliate of a professional services firm in an internal investigation.
  • Counsel corporate clients on compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Litigation

  • Representation of an individual defendant in an SDNY securities class action.
  • Representation of an individual in New York Commercial Division litigation alleging securities and common law fraud.
  • Representation of a bank in arbitration.
  • Representation of a bank in a breach of contract claim, obtaining dismissal of the claims.
  • Representation of a financial services firm opposing a competitor’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
  • Representation of healthcare and telecommunications companies in Freedom of Information Law (“FOIL”) litigation, including prevailing on appeal in the New York Appellate Division.

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