WASHINGTON, D.C.— Dennis Kelleher, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Better Markets, announced today that Eugene Goldman will serve as Senior Advisor for Securities Policy at Better Markets. He was most recently a senior member of McDermott Will & Schulte’s White Collar and Securities Defense practice group. Before private practice, Eugene served as Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. 

Statement from Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and CEO of Better Markets: 

“American investors are under attack. SEC Chair Paul Atkins has transformed the agency from one whose mission is to protect investors to one whose mission is to protect the financial industry. Adding Eugene’s expertise to our Better Markets team could not come at a more urgent time. The U.S. financial markets are under extreme stress and volatility, and the American people need public interest advocates to support an independent SEC that will be vigilant in supervising those markets, protecting investors, enforcing the law, and preventing crashes. Eugene’s extensive experience will enrich and expand our capacity for taking on the myriad challenges being posed by an SEC leadership that has lost its way. The stakes for both individual investors and the economy at large could not be higher.” 

Statement from Eugene Goldman, Senior Advisor for Securities Policy: 

“I’m excited to join Better Markets in advocating for policies that protect investors, for rules that allow investors to make informed investment decisions, and for actions that promote capital formation supporting durable, sustainable economic growth. By attempting to eliminate longstanding disclosure requirements that serve as the foundation of securities regulation, the SEC is endangering investor confidence in the capital markets. Not only that, but it is bringing enforcement actions at the lowest rate of at least the last 20 years, particularly actions for financial reporting and accounting violations. Better Markets is at the leading edge of demanding accountability, and I’m pleased to be working with this team of committed professionals.” 

Read more about Eugene Goldman: 

Eugene Goldman serves as Senior Advisor for Securities Policy at Better Markets. Prior to joining Better Markets, Eugene served as a senior member of McDermott Will & Schulte’s White Collar and Securities Defense practice group. Eugene represented domestic and international clients before the SEC in auditor misconduct, false disclosure, insider trading and other enforcement proceedings. Eugene also represented clients in shareholder litigation, cross-border FCPA investigations, and PCAOB and FINRA proceedings. Eugene also advised registered broker-dealers and investment advisers on compliance and regulatory issues. Eugene’s peers selected him for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2027 for expertise in Securities Regulation and Securities Litigation (since 2011).

Eugene previously served as Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in Washington, D.C. He directed prosecutions in a wide variety of areas, including insider trading, undisclosed self-dealing, the sale of unregistered securities, undisclosed underwriters compensation, and illicit foreign payments. The United States Attorney for the District of Columbia cited Eugene’s “particularly valuable assistance…in the most significant insider trading case yet ever referred to the U.S. Department of Justice from the Securities and Exchange Commission.” Upon Eugene’s leaving the SEC, SEC Commissioner John R. Evans wrote that “I want to commend you formally for the superb work you have accomplished here. The cases you have participated in are known nationally and internationally. I realize you have not served at the Commission to receive such notoriety. Rather, you desire the more worthy goal of assisting in the presentation of fraud and other inequitable and unfair practices in our securities markets.”

In 1986, Eugene took a sabbatical from private practice to become one of the first two law clerks to Judge Stanley Sporkin of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Sporkin previously served as director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, including during Eugene’s tenure at the SEC. With the approval of the Sporkin Family, Eugene has curated Judge Sporkin’s papers for transmission to the SEC Historical Society. The papers, among other matters, reflect efforts that led to the enactment of the FCPA’s anti-bribery and accounting provisions.

Eugene testified before the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities regarding enforcement and litigation issues, and is the lead author of The PCAOB Mission: Improving Audit Quality via Enforcement, Standards & Inspections, 287 Securities Practice Portfolio Series (BNA 2014).

Eugene is a graduate of The American University and received his law degree from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. 

Eugene’s bio is available online here. 

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.