Current Employment Position(s)

Co-Chair, Securities Department; Chair, Broker-Dealer Compliance and Regulation

Lawyer Overview

As co-chair of the Securities Department, Brandon Becker's practice focuses on advising broker-dealers and other financial market participants regarding various transactional and regulatory matters, as well as the development of new financial products and trading systems.

From 1978 to 1996, Mr. Becker was a lawyer at the Securities and Exchange Commission where he served as Director of the SEC's Division of Market Regulation and was responsible for the SEC’s program to oversee securities professionals and markets. In addition, he served as a staff member of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets; as a member of the Financial Products Advisory Committee of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and the SEC's representative to the Secondary Markets Working Party of the International Organization of Securities Commissions.

Practice

Mr. Becker has advised a wide range of clients including corporations, banks, broker-dealers, hedge funds, trading markets and trade associations. His work covers the entire range of securities regulation. He has advised broker-dealers on the various regulatory issues raised by the purchase and sale of broker dealers as well as investments in new trading systems and markets. In addition, he has advised broker-dealers and hedge funds about various compliance matters (e.g., the regulatory characterization of various swap transactions; order handling procedures; and trade booking techniques for intermediaries with a global business). In addition, he has represented broker-dealers in various enforcement-related inquiries by self-regulatory organizations and the SEC.

Professional Activities

Mr. Becker is a member and former Chair of the Subcommittee on Market Regulation of the Federal Regulation of Securities Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Business Law. He also is a member of the board of advisers of the Center for the Study of Securities Markets, and he serves on the editorial advisory boards for International Finance, BNA Securities Regulation and Law Report, Journal of Investment Compliance, and wallstreetlawyer.com. He has taught various courses regarding corporate law and securities regulation at American University, George Mason University and Georgetown University and has published widely on securities regulation topics.

Honors and Awards

• Recognized as a leader in financial services: broker dealer regulation in the 2007 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
• Selected by peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, in the areas of securities (2006, 2005-2006 and 2008 editions), corporate and M&A law (2005-2006 edition)
• Recognized for exceptional standing in the legal community in the area of investment management in the 2005 and 2006 editions of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business
• Recipient of the SEC Distinguished Service Award and President's Award for Distinguished Service

Areas of Practice

• Securities

West Practice Categories

Securities Law

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• New York

Education

• Columbia Law School, 1979
  LL.M.
• University of San Diego School of Law, 1977
  J.D.
  Honors: magna cum laude
• University of Minnesota, 1974
  B.A.
  Honors: summa cum laude

Published Works

• Shorting Into Offerings: New SEC Prohibition and New Exceptions, 2007
• Net Trading, Market Making, and the SEC's View of Best Execution, 2007
• Nine Years After—SEC Approves NASD Mark-Up Guidance for Debt Securities, 2007
• Hedge Fund Oversight: Key Action Items for Hedge Funds, Broker-Dealers and Other Market Professionals, 2007
• SEC Proposes to Amend Financial Responsibility Rules for Broker-Dealers, 2007
• A New Breed of Securities: Credit Default Options Proposed by CBOE, 2007
• Financial Institutions Briefing Series, 2007
• SEC Proposes to Prohibit Short Selling by Investors Participating in a Securities Offering and Eliminate the “Tick Test” for All Short Sales, 2006
• NASD Amends Proposed Debt Mark-up Policy to Exclude Certain Transactions with Institutional Customers, 2006
• NASD Expands Broker-Dealer's Duty of Best Execution, 2006
• New Soft Dollar Guidance: Time for "Soft" Unbundling of Brokerage Commissions between Research and Execution, 2006
• FinCEN Issues Anti-Money Laundering Rules on Foreign Correspondent and Private Banking Accounts: Substantial Due Diligence Mandated for Banks, Broker-Dealers, Mutual Funds, Others, 2006
• Recent Enforcement Actions Target Broker-Dealer Operational and Systems Issues, 2006
• Entering the US Market—Challenges, Opportunities and Potential Pitfalls for Foreign Companies, 2006
• Securities Law Update, 2005
• Securities Law Update, 2005
• SEC Issues Regulation NMS Adopting Release, Starting the Clock on Sweeping Overhaul of the National Market System, 2005
• Self-Regulation Revisited: SEC Seeks Comment on Potential Enhancements to Securities Self-Regulatory System, 2005
• Will Multiple Regulators Spawn an Inconsistent Framework for Research Analyst Regulation?, 2002
• Online Trading: Issuers, Broker-Dealers and SROs, 2001
• Hedge Funds in Global Financial Markets, 2000
• Wilmer Lawyers, Brandon Becker and Cherie Macauley, prepared an outline entitled, "Regulation of Alternative Trading Systems.", 1999
• Wilmer Lawyers, Brandon Becker and Todd Wiench, prepared an outline entitled, "Mark-Ups," in connection with the Securities Industry Association - Compliance & Legal Division - Fall Compliance Seminar held on November 17, 1999 in New York City., 1999
• A Regulatory Dilemma: Electronic Access to Foreign Markets, 1999
• A Regulatory Dilemma: Electronic Access to Foreign Markets, 1999
• Wilmer Partners, William J. Perlstein and Brandon Becker Participate In The ABA Section Of Business Law 1999 Spring Meeting IN San Francisco, 1999

Address

1875 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Phones

+1 202 663 6979 (Business Phone)

Faxes

+1 202 663 6363 (Business Fax)

Emails

Contact Us (Business Email)

Websites

http://www.wilmerhale.com/