Joseph (Jay) Derbis Email & Phone Number

Rosemont, Il/Chicago, Il

Chicago, Il

As U.S. Regulatory Liaison I advised all of BMO Financial Group's business lines on all aspects of their interaction with U.S. banking and securities regulators (e.g., OCC, FRB, CFPB, SEC, FINRA and state authorities), including by advising senior management and executives on regulatory examinations, remediations and regulatory developments, and otherwise providing advice in a broad range of legal areas affecting BMO's regulatory status.

Chicago, Il

Served as the primary legal advisor to BMO Financial Group's U.S. retail brokerage and investment advisory business, as well as its U.S. broker-dealer engaged in the marketing and distribution of proprietary BMO Funds mutual funds. Responsibilities broadly included: advising on the applicability and interpretation of SEC and FINRA rules, banking regulations, and a wide variety of other laws and regulations as they impact various enterprise- and client-related issues, including marketing, disclosures, privacy, cross-border issues (e.g., foreign registration and client eligibility), and miscellaneous other corporate matters; reviewing and negotiating various selling, distribution, vendor, confidentiality, and affiliate networking agreements, as well as revising client agreements and acknowledgements; assisting with structuring and implementing employee compensation and referral arrangements; preparing for or responding to events such as employee terminations and departures (including restrictive covenant issues), customer concerns or complaints, and various regulatory examinations or inquiries.

Chicago, Il

Securities & Commodities Litigation; White-Collar Criminal, Regulatory & Internal Investigative Services.Representative accomplishments include: • Managed all aspects of pre-hearing and discovery process, resulting in favorable settlements for major broker/dealer in a series of separate FINRA arbitrations brought by individuals and institutions seeking millions of dollars for alleged fraud and other sales practice violations in connection with their CDO investments.• Managed and prepared multiple multi-million dollar FINRA arbitration cases through the eve of trial, enabling major broker/dealer to successfully settle claims brought by corporations seeking to recover tens of millions of dollars invested in auction rate securities rendered illiquid by the credit crisis and auction-rate market collapse.• After briefing on motions to dismiss, achieved settlement below nuisance value of a multi-million dollar state-court suit brought against one of the nation’s largest banks by senior executives of one of its former corporate clients. • Filed suit, defeated motions to dismiss and recovered a favorable settlement on behalf of a retired senior executive against her former employer after it sought to halt or restructure deferred compensation payments owed to her. • Obtained dismissal, on jurisdictional grounds, of a suit against a Canadian gold corporation by a shareholder who alleged wrongdoing in a 1999 corporate merger between two Canadian corporations, effectively preventing the threatened filing of additional suits by other investors.

Washington, Dc

White-collar criminal; Corporate internal investigations; Complex commercial litigation; Securities litigationBroad litigation practice focused on white-collar criminal and regulatory defense, corporate internal investigations and compliance counseling, with experience involving the DOJ, SEC, CFTC and other state and federal agencies, and allegations such as accounting fraud, antitrust violations, broker/dealer sales practices, false claims, foreign corrupt practices, campaign finance violations and insider trading. Practice also included the defense of complex litigation in federal and state court, including multiple class actions and the nationwide MDL proceedings against Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., arising from its August 2000 tire recall, and the appeal of a $145 billion punitive damages award in state court against R.J. Reynolds and other large tobacco companies.

Washington, Dc

As an Associate Independent Counsel, I participated in the federal criminal investigation and prosecution of a former U.S. Cabinet officer and other individuals inside and outside of government.

J.D., With Honors

B.A., Political Science

Education record