2022 Compliance Workshops

Monique S. Botkin is associate general counsel of the IAA. Prior to joining the IAA in 2004, she was an associate in the financial services groups at Dechert LLP in Newport Beach, California, and Alston & Bird LLP in Washington, DC. While in private practice, Botkin represented investment advisers, registered investment companies, private funds, and broker-dealers in corporate, securities and investment management matters. Botkin also served as an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management disclosure review office from 2013 to 2014. She earned her B.A. in government and politics from the University of Maryland at College Park and her J.D., cum laude, from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, where she was an editor of the Law Review. Botkin will speak at the Chicago Compliance Workshop.

Sarah Buescher is special counsel of the IAA. Before joining the IAA, Buescher served as a branch chief in the Investment Adviser Regulation Office in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. She also worked in the SEC’s Office of the General Counsel and started her legal career in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management. She also previously worked at Vanguard, first in the Legal Department as associate counsel and senior counsel, and later in the Compliance Department as manager of international compliance. She earned her B.S. in Communication Studies from Northwestern University and her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Buescher will speak at the Chicago Compliance Workshop.

Shivani Choudhary, CFA, CIPM, is a managing director with the Performance Services practice of ACA Group, where she manages a diverse client base of GIPS® verification engagements and conducts performance certifications and focused reviews for firms of all sizes and asset classes. Prior to joining ACA, Choudhary worked for Guggenheim Partners Investment Management as a senior performance measurement associate and at Wilshire Associates Inc. as a performance measurement associate. She has more than 13 years of investment industry experience in performance measurement, portfolio analytics, risk measurement, performance attribution, and operations. Choudhary earned her MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology and her B.S. in Engineering from the Institute of Technology and Management in India. Choudhary will speak at the Chicago Compliance Workshop.

Dianne M. Descoteaux is associate general counsel at the IAA. She has more than 20 years of experience as an attorney in the investment management industry and in private law practice advising clients on compliance issues arising under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. Prior to joining the IAA, Dianne was general counsel at Cipperman Compliance Services, LLC; served as outsourced chief compliance officer for several client engagements; and worked as in-house counsel at SEI Investments. She also practiced law in the Investment Management Practice groups of Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP, Morrison & Foerster LLP, and Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP. She is a McKenna Scholar and honors graduate of Claremont McKenna College and earned her law degree at Duke University School of Law. Decoteaux will speak at the Boston Compliance Workshop.

Marshall Gandy is a senior officer and national associate director of the Investment Adviser and Investment Company examination program in the SEC’s Division of Examinations, and he continues to serve as the associate regional director for examinations in the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office. Gandy joined the SEC’s Fort Worth office in 1999 as a staff attorney and trial counsel in the Division of Enforcement before taking the role of senior regional counsel in Dallas District Office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in 2008. Gandy began his legal career in Dallas County as a criminal court judge and an assistant district attorney. He obtained his J.D. from Southern Methodist University. Gandy will speak at the Virtual Compliance Workshop.

Louis Gracia, CFE, is an associate regional director in the Investment Adviser – Investment Company Examination Program in the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office, investigating and referring findings for Commission enforcement action on several ’40 Act-related issues including Ponzi schemes, misuse of soft dollars, undisclosed principal transactions, false hedge fund valuation, false/misleading advertising, custody rule non-compliance, failure to supervise, and inadequate compliance policies and procedures. Gracia has also represented the SEC at numerous examiner recruitment and investor outreach events. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He currently holds a CPA license in the state of Illinois. Gracia will speak at the Chicago Compliance Workshop

Laura L. Grossman is associate general counsel of the IAA. She has more than 20 years of experience as an investment management attorney. Prior to joining the IAA in 2012, she was in private practice for over 10 years in the New York office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. (now Norton Rose Fulbright), where she advised registered investment adviser, mutual fund and private fund clients on matters arising under the Investment Advisers Act, the Investment Company Act and other federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and associated regulations, and a wide range of compliance issues. Grossman received her B.A., summa cum laude, from Rutgers College, and she received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Grossman will speak at the Virtual Compliance Workshop.

Kevin M. Kelcourse is associate director for the Division of Examinations at the SEC’s Boston Regional Office. He leads a staff that conducts inspections and examinations of investment advisers, investment companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, broker-dealers, municipal advisers, transfer agents, and other securities firms in New England. Kelcourse previously worked for the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, including as assistant director in the Division’s Asset Management Unit, where he investigated and litigated matters involving federal securities laws. Prior to the SEC, he was a federal prosecutor with the Justice Department and an associate with O’Melveny & Myers. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Georgetown University. Kelcourse will speak at the Boston Compliance Workshop.

Jennifer L. Klass is co-chair of Baker McKenzie’s Financial Regulation and Enforcement Practice in North America. She is an experienced investment management lawyer with particular focus on investment adviser regulation and the convergence of investment advisory and brokerage services. She regularly represents clients before the SEC, both in seeking interpretative guidance and in managing examination and enforcement matters. Klass is a leading practitioner in digital investment advice and FinTech. Previously, she was vice president and associate counsel at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Her practice focuses on the retail and wealth management businesses of investment advisers and dual registrants, and her clients include asset managers, broker-dealers, and sponsors of private investment funds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds. Klass will speak at the Virtual Compliance Workshop.

Michael B. Koffler, a partner at Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, guides investment advisers, private funds, and broker-dealers in their compliance with federal and state securities laws and SRO rules. He advises asset managers on the full spectrum of their operations and helps guide firms through examinations and inspections and with responding to deficiencies cited by securities regulators. In addition, he counsels financial institutions ­– including banks and insurance companies – on securities issues associated with investment products. Koffler previously worked at the SEC in the Division of Investment Management, where he reviewed registration statements, no-action requests, exemptive applications, and proxy statements and answered interpretive questions from financial institutions. Koffler will speak at the Chicago Compliance Workshop.

Sanjay Lamba is associate general counsel at the IAA. Prior to joining the IAA, Lamba worked at SEC headquarters for 10 years, beginning his service in the rulemaking office of the Division of Investment Management before transferring to the Office of Chief Counsel (Legal Branch) in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations in 2010. Prior to the SEC, he was in private practice advising registered investment adviser and mutual fund clients on a wide range of matters arising under the federal securities laws. He received his B.S. degree in Finance from George Mason University and his law degree from Boston University. Lamba will speak at the Virtual and Boston Compliance Workshops.

Michael W. McGrath, CFA is a partner of K&L Gates LLP and a member of the firm’s asset management and investment funds practice. McGrath focuses on counseling global asset managers across a broad spectrum of asset classes in the formation and operation of investment funds, regulatory compliance, and securities and commodities law. McGrath has extensive experience advising clients with respect to the formation and operation of private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate funds, credit funds, separate accounts, and mutual funds, as well as examinations and marketing and advertising, including GIPS®. Previously, he was vice president and senior counsel with Allianz Global Investors. He received a J.D. from Duke University and an A.B. from Stanford University. McGrath will speak at the Boston Compliance Workshop.

Julia Reyes is a partner with ACA Performance Services, a division of ACA Group, where she is responsible for more than 60 client relationships and focused on verifying investment advisers’ claims of GIPS® compliance and performance engagements. Reyes has more than 15 years of experience, including as a partner with Ashland Partners & Company LLP. She heads the Performance Process Committee, helping develop and maintain a process to conduct verifications and other performance engagements, and serves on the Thought Leadership council providing content and topics of interest to performance and compliance professionals. Reyes earned her B.S. in Accounting from Arizona State University and also earned a Certificate in Performance Measurement. Reyes will speak at the Virtual and Boston Compliance Workshops.