MCLE Seminar: BitLicense and the Virtual Currency Regulatory Landscape

Nikiforos Mathews Partner Derivatives, Structured Finance

纽约

Mr. Mathews, a partner in Orrick’s New York office, serves as Global Co-Head of the Derivatives group. He is also a member of the Structured Finance, Banking and Finance, and Energy and Infrastructure groups.

His practice focuses on representing financial institutions, governmental and regulated entities, hedge funds and corporate end-users in structuring and negotiating a broad range of fixed income, foreign exchange, commodity, energy and credit derivative products. Among other things, he has successfully negotiated numerous domestic and cross-border hedging transactions relating to leveraged loans and infrastructure transactions. In addition, Mr. Mathews has significant experience in foreign exchange and fixed income prime brokerage issues, as well as various structured products. He also regularly advises clients on derivatives regulation, including rules relating to the central clearing, exchange trading, reporting, recordkeeping and other requirements of the Dodd-Frank legislation, as well as the negotiation of related documentation.

Mr. Mathews is lead editor of Orrick’s publication, Derivatives in Review, which periodically highlights important legal, regulatory and other newsworthy developments in the area of derivatives. He has also published articles in several journals, including on rating agency hedge criteria in connection with structured finance transactions.

Before joining Orrick, Mr. Mathews was vice president and assistant general counsel at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and director and counsel at UBS AG. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Nicholas Tsoucalas of the United States Court of International Trade.

From 1999 to 2007, Mr. Mathews held a commission as a Captain in the United States Army Reserve, where he was qualified to practice as a Judge Advocate. A veteran of both Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, he served as an Operational and Administrative Law attorney in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jeremy Kudon Partner Public Policy, State Legislative and Regulatory Practice

纽约

Jeremy is the founder and chair of Orrick’s Public Policy Group. He has built a highly innovative practice that helps disruptive companies protect/secure their competitive advantage at all levels of state government in all 50 states.

Over the past 18 months alone, Jeremy and his team engaged in 125 battles in 45 state legislatures on behalf of a “who’s who” of technology disruptors, Fortune 500 companies, and professional sports leagues. 

Recent examples of Jeremy's experience includes:

• Daily Fantasy Sports. In the fall of 2015, the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, FanDuel and DraftKings faced an existential threat from state legislatures and Attorneys General. Jeremy and his team built, implemented and ran a 50-state legislative and regulatory campaign that included on the ground lobbying, public relations support, and grassroots and grasstops activation. As a result of Jeremy and Orrick’s work, 20 state legislatures, including New York where Attorney General Schneiderman issued a cease and desist to the companies, have passed legislation clarifying that daily fantasy sports are legal, creating regulatory oversight and introducing common sense consumer protections.
• Sports Betting. Jeremy and Orrick are coordinating a multi-state campaign on behalf of Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer and the PGA TOUR to ensure that sports betting legislation addresses the leagues integrity and intellectual property concerns. Over the past six months, Orrick has engaged on the leagues’ behalf in 20 state legislatures.
• Secondary Life Insurance. Responsible for developing and implementing a multi-state legislative and regulatory campaign on behalf of Fortress Investment Group to bring certainty to the secondary life insurance market. In 2014, Jeremy and his team helped pass affirmative legislation in Minnesota that gives investors the right—for the first time—to go to court and obtain a declaration that a policy has a valid insurable interest.
• Satellite TV and OTT Tax. For the past decade, Jeremy and his team have coordinated a multi-state campaign on behalf of DISH, DIRECTV, and Sling TV to defeat anti-competitive satellite TV and over-the-top TV taxes. The team’s record is nothing short of spectacular. Since 2009, Orrick has helped the satellite TV industry defeat 85 bills in 35 states, which has translated into billions of dollars of savings.
• Ocular Telehealth. Represent Warby Parker and Simple Contacts before state legislatures to protect against anti-competitive ocular telehealth legislation.

Jonas Robison Senior Associate Structured Finance, Derivatives

纽约

Jonas Robison, a Senior Associate in Orrick’s New York office, is a member of the Structured Finance Group. He has a broad financial regulatory practice, including frequently advising on derivatives regulations and CFTC matters. His practice also focuses on securitization and negotiating derivatives transactions. 

He has experience with derivatives regulations under the Dodd-Frank Act, bank regulations, regulatory requirements applicable to virtual currencies and blockchain technology, and the securities laws generally. He also represents issuers and underwriters in commercial mortgage loan, auto loan, credit card, and other types of securitizations. In addition, he has broad experience in general corporate matters.