Latham & Watkins LLP1 is pleased to announce that former US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) Corporation Finance Associate Director Michele Anderson will join the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner in the National Office, a central resource for complex US securities law questions. She will join the firm after serving for 24 years in progressively senior positions in the SEC’s Corporation Finance Division, including nearly 15 years leading and then overseeing its Office of Mergers and Acquisitions (OM&A).
“Michele is one of the world’s preeminent M&A regulatory lawyers. Her arrival further solidifies our position as the market-leading public company M&A law firm, and we are delighted to welcome her,” said Charles Ruck, Global Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Corporate Department. “She will be an asset to our team and clients on their most complex domestic and cross-border transactions, as well as to our growing number of public company clients confronting shareholder activism and other complex corporate governance issues.”
As Associate Director in Corp Fin since 2015, Anderson oversaw the work of OM&A as well as the Office of International Corporate Finance (OICF) and Office of Structured Finance. She also directed the Division’s rulemaking initiatives and no-action, interpretive, and exemptive positions on domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, federal proxy rules, and the registration, disclosure, and reporting requirements that apply to foreign issuers and issuers of asset-backed securities. In this capacity, she also had broad oversight responsibility for Corp Fin’s disclosure review program for public companies.
Prior to becoming Associate Director, Anderson served for seven years (2008-2015) as Chief of OM&A. In that role, she managed the SEC’s regulation of M&A transactions and the application and interpretation of SEC rules relating to tender offers, mergers, going-private transactions, reorganizations, debt restructurings, beneficial ownership reporting, and contested and other non-routine proxy solicitations.
Anderson is the latest addition to the firm’s National Office. Unique to Latham, the National Office is a central resource for clear, pragmatic, and action-oriented US securities law advice. National Office Co-Chair Alex
Cohen was the SEC’s Deputy General Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff who helped steer the agency’s responses to the 2008 financial crisis, and National Office Co-Chair Joel Trotter served in a leadership role on the IPO Task Force and was a principal author of the IPO-related provisions of the JOBS Act of 2012. Cohen said: “Michele is the perfect addition to our National Office team and the intensely focused capabilities we offer to help guide our clients through their most challenging and complex mandates.”
Trotter added: “Michele brings not only unparalleled securities regulatory expertise in M&A matters but also broad leadership and operational experience across Corp Fin. We’re thrilled to welcome her to the team.”
Other senior SEC veterans who have joined the National Office include Paul Dudek, who led OICF for nearly 25 years and is the world’s leading expert on the SEC’s regulation of non-US companies; and Marlon Paz, who served as Senior Special Counsel to the Director of the Trading and Markets Division and is a widely recognized authority on the SEC’s regulation of broker-dealers.
“Serving for 24 years at the SEC was an enormous privilege and honor,” said Anderson. “I am delighted to add my knowledge and experience to Latham’s talented roster, and joining the National Office is a compelling opportunity. I look forward to joining a team of problem-solvers who thrive on helping clients navigate their toughest securities law challenges.”
Anderson will join the firm in mid-October. She received her JD and BA, magna cum laude, from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She has served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law, where she taught the course on Takeovers, Mergers and Acquisitions.
