Webcast: Crypto Regulation and Enforcement: Developments, Trends, and Expectations for the New Administration

Webcasts  |  January 22, 2025

We discuss the U.S. regulatory and enforcement landscape for crypto and digital assets, including:

  • What we can expect from DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, and state regulators;
  • Recent criminal and civil enforcement actions against individuals and entities (and why they still matter); and
  • Other changes that may flow from the new Administration’s crypto policy.

MCLE CREDIT INFORMATION:

This program has been approved for credit in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 1.0 credit hour, of which 1.0 credit hour may be applied toward the areas of professional practice requirement. This course is approved for transitional/non-transitional credit.

Attorneys seeking New York credit must obtain an Affirmation Form prior to watching the archived version of this webcast. Please contact [email protected] to request the MCLE form.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.0 hour in the General Category.

California attorneys may claim “self-study” credit for viewing the archived version of this webcast. No certificate of attendance is required for California “self-study” credit.

PANELISTS:

Stephanie L. Brooker, a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington D.C. office, is Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations, Anti-Money Laundering, and Financial Institutions Practice Groups. During her approximately 25 years in legal practice, Stephanie has been consistently recognized as a leading practitioner in the areas of anti-money laundering compliance and enforcement defense and white collar criminal defense. Prior to joining the firm, Stephanie served as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice. As a DOJ prosecutor, Stephanie served as the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, investigated a broad range of white collar and other federal criminal matters, tried 32 criminal trials, and briefed and argued criminal appeals. Stephanie also served as the Director of the Enforcement Division and Chief of Staff at the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the lead U.S. anti-money regulator and enforcement agency. Stephanie is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

Jeffrey L. Steiner is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office, where he is Chair of the firm’s Derivatives Practice Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Regulatory practice group. Jeffrey is also the Co-Chair to the firm’s Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Financial Institutions, Energy and Public Policy Practice Groups. Jeffrey advises a range of clients, including commercial end-users, financial institutions, dealers, hedge funds, private equity funds, clearinghouses, industry groups and trade associations on regulatory, legislative, enforcement and transactional matters related to OTC and listed derivatives, commodities and securities. Jeffrey also advises a range of clients on issues related to digital assets, cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology, including analyzing and advising on regulatory and enforcement matters relating to their application and use. He regularly works with clients on structuring products involving the use of digital assets and the application of blockchain technology, including digital token issuances and cryptocurrency trading. He also analyzes the cross-border impacts relating to clients’ use of digital currencies and blockchain technology. Jeffrey is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland.

Sara K. Weed is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, D.C. office and Co-Chair of the Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group. Sara’s fintech’s practice spans both regulatory and transactional advice for a range of clients, including traditional financial institutions, non-bank financial services companies and technology companies. Sara’s outstanding achievements in private practice have been recognized by various organizations. Most recently, Sara was recognized as a leading lawyer in the 2025 edition of Chambers and Partners Fintech in the category USA: Nationwide – Fintech Legal: Payments and Lending, with clients describing her as “a very commercially-minded attorney with deep expertise and experience in navigating regulatory issues and relationships in the fintech space.”

Prior to working in private practice, Sara held various roles in the financial services industry, including serving as in-house counsel to IBM’s financial services group and as a policy counsel with a national financial services research organization. She also served as director and counsel with the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks, where she oversaw supervision of non-bank mortgage lenders and brokers, money services businesses, and consumer finance companies. Sara is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Georgia, and North Carolina.

Osman Nawaz is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s New York office, and a member of the firm’s Securities Enforcement and White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice Groups. He advises clients on internal and government investigations and enforcement actions, as well as follow-on civil litigation and regulatory and compliance-related issues.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Os concluded a 14-year career with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC). During his time with the SEC, he worked in the agency’s New York Office, serving through multiple administrations and in roles ranging from staff attorney to Assistant Regional Director. Most recently, he was a Senior Officer in the agency’s Division of Enforcement and in national leadership where he led Enforcement’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit, a specialty group focused on complex products and trading involving sophisticated market participants’ structuring, sale, trading and valuation of derivatives, asset-backed securities, and other instruments. Os oversaw high-profile investigations and litigations and professional staff located in seven different offices including the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. He is admitted to practice in the States of New York and Colorado.

Sam Raymond, an experienced investigator and trial lawyer, is Of Counsel in Gibson Dunn’s New York office and a member of the White Collar Defense and Investigations, Litigation, Anti-Money Laundering, Fintech and Digital Assets, and National Security Groups. As a former federal prosecutor, Sam has a broad-based government enforcement and investigations practice, with a specific focus on investigations and counseling related to anti-money laundering, the Bank Secrecy Act, and sanctions.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Sam was an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York from 2017 to 2024. In that role, Sam tried multiple cases to verdict and prosecuted a broad range of federal criminal violations. He was a member of the team that prosecuted executives at FTX and Alameda Research, including as a member of the trial team in United States v. Bankman-Fried, and was the lead prosecutor in the FTX case on issues related to asset seizure and forfeiture. Sam was also a member of the DOJ team that brought criminal charges against the senior leadership of Hamas for their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel. He was a lead prosecutor in one of the first cases ever charging individuals with violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, in a pathbreaking prosecution of executives at a cryptocurrency exchange. Sam is admitted to practice in the State of New York and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

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Attorney Advertising: These materials were prepared for general informational purposes only based on information available at the time of publication and are not intended as, do not constitute, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice or a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. Gibson Dunn (and its affiliates, attorneys, and employees) shall not have any liability in connection with any use of these materials.  The sharing of these materials does not establish an attorney-client relationship with the recipient and should not be relied upon as an alternative for advice from qualified counsel.  Please note that facts and circumstances may vary, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.