Michael A. Asaro
Partner
Areas of Focus
- White Collar Defense & Government Investigations
- Securities Enforcement & Litigation
- Global Investment Adviser Regulatory
- Antibribery/Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Disputes & Investigations
- Investment Funds Litigation
- Digital Assets, Cryptocurrency & Blockchain
- State Attorneys General
- Cartel Investigations & Criminal Antitrust Prosecutions
- Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG)
- Complex Commercial Litigation
- Inspector General Investigations
- Represents companies and individuals in high-stakes, white collar and regulatory investigations and litigation.
- Served for five years as a federal prosecutor and four years as an enforcement attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Mike Asaro is a leader of Akin's white collar defense and global investigations practice. He focuses on white collar criminal defense, SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) investigations, corporate internal investigations and complex commercial litigation. Mike also regularly advises investment firms with respect to compliance with the federal securities and commodities laws.
Mike is a former assistant U.S. attorney from the Eastern District of New York, where he served as deputy chief of the Business and Securities Fraud Section. During his tenure, the office prosecuted numerous complex and high profile securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, bribery and money laundering cases.
Earlier in his career, Mike served as branch chief in the SEC’s New York office, supervising staff attorneys as they worked on regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. While he was at the SEC, he was appointed as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York.
Chambers USA has described Mike as “an absolute expert in this practice area” who is “incredibly responsive, and understands his clients’ business and how to factor in commercial concerns.” He regularly counsels companies and individuals in matters involving:
- Insider trading
- Market manipulation and disruptive trading
- Accounting irregularities and public company disclosure issues
- Investment advisor and broker/dealer regulation
- Conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duty
- Anti-bribery and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
- Complex commercial litigation.
- Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of Special Committee of Board of Directors of Eastman Kodak Company into issues related to trading and options grants in advance of public news announcement. Also represented Eastman Kodak Company in connection with related SEC and New York Attorney General investigations.
- Conducted an internal investigation on behalf of Audit Committees of two public companies into allegations of accounting improprieties at a joint venture co-owned by both companies.
- Represented hedge funds and their employees in connection with multiple investigations by the SEC, DOJ and U.S. Congress into issues related to the application of insider trading rules to the political intelligence industry under the STOCK Act.
- Defended executive of international investment bank who was the target of a criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts into allegedly fraudulent subprime mortgage securitizations. Convinced the U.S. Attorney’s Office to resolve the matter without any charges against the client.
- Represented high frequency trading firm in connection with investigations by the DOJ, CFTC, and CME into alleged scheme to manipulate the futures markets through spoofing.
“He is an absolute expert in this practice area, is incredibly responsive, and understands his clients’ business and how to factor in commercial concerns.”
Chambers USA, 2023
EducationJ.D., Brooklyn Law School, magna cum laude, 1998
B.S., Boston University, 1995
J.D., Brooklyn Law School, magna cum laude, 1998
B.S., Boston University, 1995
Bar AdmissionsNew York
New York
- Chambers USA, Litigation: White Collar Crime and Government Investigations, 2013 to 2023.
- Legal 500 US, Corporate Investigations, White Collar Criminal Defense, 2019 to 2023.
- Who's Who Legal: Investigations (multiple years, including 2022 and 2023).
- Assistant U.S. Attorney, Deputy Chief of Business and Securities Fraud Section, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, 2002 to 2007.
- Branch Chief, New York, Enforcement Division, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1998 to 2002.
- Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, 2001 to 2002.
- Co-author, Chapter 9: SEC Enforcement—Legal Considerations, Federal Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Matthew Bender.
- Moderator, "Policing the Financial Frontier: A Conversation on CFTC Enforcement," Managed Funds Association Compliance 2023 Conference, May 2, 2023.
- Moderator, “Electronic Communications and the Impact of the SEC Street Sweep,” Managed Funds Association West Compliance Conference, March 7, 2023.
- Moderator, “Fireside Chat with SEC Enforcement Director Gurbir Grewal: Enforcement Oulook,” Managed Funds Association Compliance 2022 Conference, May 23, 2022.
- Moderator, “Keynote Fireside Chat with SEC Commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw,” Managed Funds Association Compliance 2021 Conference, July 13, 2021.
- Panelist, “Annual Update on Regulatory Developments and Enforcement Actions: U.S. and U.K.,” Akin Gump Annual New York Investment Funds Conference, September 10, 2020.
- Moderator, “Keynote Fireside Chat: SEC Initiatives- Diversity and Inclusion, ESG, New Proxy Rules and Market Data,” Managed Funds Association Compliance 2020 Conference, July 21, 2020.
- Panelist, “Material Non-Public Information During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Insider Trading Risks to Avoid,” Akin Gump Webinar, May 14, 2020.
- Panelist, “Regulatory Developments and Enforcement Across the Globe,” Akin Gump Annual New York Investment Funds Conference, September 26, 2019.
- Moderator, “Policing the Markets: Updates on Securities Investigations and Enforcement,” Practicing Law Institute’s “White Collar Crime: Prosecutors and Regulator’s Speak,” September 25, 2019.
- Moderator, “Fireside Keynote Chat: SEC’s Enforcement Update,” Managed Funds Association Compliance 2019 Conference, April 24, 2019.
- Panelist, “Enforcement Trends: What is Next on the Horizon,” Managed Funds Association Compliance 2018 Conference, March 8, 2018.
- Panelist, “Regulatory Development and Enforcement Across the Globe,” Akin Gump Annual New York Investment Funds Conference, October 2, 2017.
- Panelist, “Compliance Spotlight,” Akin Gump Annual New York Investment Funds Conference, September 21, 2016.
- Panelist, “Ethics,” Managed Funds Association Compliance 2016 Conference, May 10, 2016.
- Panelist, “Taking the Pulse of Regulators: A Discussion of Regulatory Themes in the U.S. and Overseas,” Akin Gump Annual New York Funds Investment Conference, October 13, 2015.
- Panelist, “A Look Behind the Curtain: Examining the SEC Regulatory Exam for Hedge Funds,” Private Investment Funds Compliance Master Class, February 17, 2015.
