Robin M. Bergen is a partner based in the Washington, D.C. office.
Ms. Bergen’s practice focuses on SEC investigations and regulatory enforcement matters, structured finance and private investment funds. She also has extensive experience in the regulation of investment companies and investment advisers.
Ms. Bergen has represented corporate clients and individuals in a broad range of government investigations involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Department of Justice, and state regulators. She also advises boards of directors and audit committees on corporate governance matters and internal investigations. In the structured finance area, Ms. Bergen regularly represents underwriters and investment managers in collateralized loan obligation (CLO) and related products transactions and complex financial product offerings. Her substantial transactional and finance experience provides her with a unique perspective and ability to understand and analyze complex factual and legal issues faced by multinational companies and financial services firms in government investigations and enforcement matters.
Selected recent experience in enforcement and regulatory matters includes acting as:
- Counsel to several Wall Street investment banks, hedge funds, and asset managers in investigations by the SEC, FINRA, U.K. FSA and congressional committees relating to subprime mortgage matters including CDOs.
- Counsel to several large asset managers in connection with SEC and other regulatory investigations stemming from the Madoff and Stanford fraud cases.
- Counsel to a major private equity fund sponsor in “pay-to-play” investigations.
- Counsel to several registered broker-dealers and investment advisers in connection with SEC regulatory examinations relating to various compliance issues.
- Counsel to several public companies and senior officers in connection with SEC investigations involving allegations of accounting fraud and other misconduct.
- Counsel to independent directors and senior management of several major publicly traded companies in internal investigations and internal reviews relating to accounting fraud, options backdating, and structured finance products.
- Counsel to several Fortune 500 companies and senior officers and directors in connection with SEC options backdating investigations.
Selected recent experience in the structured finance area includes acting as:
- Counsel to Babson Capital Management, ColumbusNova, Invesco and other preeminent collateral managers in more than $6 billion in CLOs, CDOs and other structured finance transactions since 2007.
- Counsel to Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and other major underwriters in the structuring and offering of more than $19 billion in CLOs, CDOs and other structured finance transactions since 2007.
- Counsel to numerous CLO issuers, investors and other parties in connection with amendments, restructurings and refinancings of structured finance products.
Ms. Bergen is distinguished as a "star white-collar lawyer" by
Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys and, based on peer and client selection, is named one of
Benchmark Litigation's Top 250 Women in Litigation. She is also internationally recognized as a leading lawyer in structured products by
Chambers Global,
Chambers USA,
Legal 500, and
IFLR 1000 Guide to the World’s Leading Law Firms. Additionally, Ms. Bergen was recently named one of
Institutional Investor News’ “10 Rising Stars of Securitization.” She previously served as Vice Chair of the International Securities Law Committee of the DC Bar Association's Corporation, Finance and Securities Law Section.
Ms. Bergen speaks regularly on issues relating to securities enforcement, government investigations, and structured finance. Most recently she spoke at the Institutional Investor’s 2013 Hedge Fund Institutional Forum Senior Delegates Roundtable on enforcement and regulatory issues for hedge funds and private equity funds, and she also appeared on an enforcement panel at PLI’s 2013 Corporate Governance Master Class. Other recent panel topics include SEC enforcement trends affecting directors and officers and Dodd-Frank implementation issues, cross border issues affecting investment advisers in the world of Dodd-Frank, and internal investigations involving corporate officials. Ms. Bergen is a frequent author on regulatory matters relating to investment companies and investment advisers. She previously served as a regular securities law contributor to
Thomson Reuters' News & Insight, covering trends and developments within the criminal and civil securities enforcement arena. In addition, Ms. Bergen authored an article on the role of the board in overseeing internal investigations for The Conference Board’s Executive Action Series (2009), and authored a chapter on advising corporate clients in securities enforcement investigations in
Common Issues in Securities Law (Aspatore 2008).
Ms. Bergen joined the firm in 1994 and became a partner in 2003. She received a J.D. degree from New York University School of Law in 1994 and a B.S. degree, with distinction, from the University of Virginia in 1991.
Ms. Bergen is a member of the Bars in New York and the District of Columbia.
Publications
Thomson Reuters' News & Insight. To view the latest blog entries on trends and developments within the criminal and civil securities enforcement arena,
click here.
“The Role of the Board in Turbulent Times... Overseeing Internal Investigations,”
The Conference Board: Executive Action Series (February 2009).
“
Advising Corporate Clients in Securities Enforcement Investigations,” in
Common Issues in Securities Law: Leading Lawyers on Managing Client Expectations, Evaluating Securities Investigations, and Identifying Key Issues in U.S. Securities Law (Aspatore, 2008).