Don Davidson is an experienced securities lawyer who handles a wide range of matters for broker-dealers, investment advisers and investment companies. Don has represented clients in litigation and in regulatory inquiries involving the SEC, FINRA and its predecessors, Department of Justice, state securities regulators, and foreign securities regulators. These matters have included municipal finance, market timing, insider trading, revenue sharing and issues arising under the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Investment Company Act of 1940, various state blue-sky statutes, and SRO rules. He also advises clients on compliance and risk management issues.
Prior to joining Bingham, Don was deputy general counsel and senior vice president at UBS Financial Services Inc. (formerly PaineWebber Inc.) for over six years. At UBS, he managed the Private Client Litigation Group, which handled all customer and broker-related litigation and arbitrations arising from the firm’s nationwide retail branches. He also advised business clients at UBS on risk management, best practices, and changes in the legal and regulatory environment.
Don formerly served as deputy chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorneys’ Office for the District of New Jersey, where he gained extensive experience handling complex white-collar crime cases, including RICO, international money laundering, tax and public corruption matters. He also taught trial advocacy for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and served as a special instructor at the FBI Academy. Don began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan.
- Represented a major broker-dealer and its affiliated insurance company in a large market timing investigation conducted by the Department of Justice, SEC, NASD, NYSE and regulators from several states
- Helped an international financial institution wrap up a sensitive regulatory matter in Asia
- Assisted a leading investment company with a multifund shareholder proxy
- Advised another leading investment company in connection with a revision of its compliance policies
- Represented a major broker-dealer in a “pay to play” municipal finance investigation conducted by the Department of Justice
- Represented a market maker in connection with a FINRA investigation involving allegations of inflated trade reporting
- Represented a top investment bank and broker-dealer in connection with litigation arising from alleged research analyst conflicts of interest
- Represented the former COO of a major consumer goods company in an insider trading investigation
- Represented a top-tier broker-dealer in connection with a variable annuity sales practice investigation conducted by FINRA
- Represented a leading clearing firm in a criminal investigation conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
- Led due diligence teams in reviewing the regulatory, compliance and litigation profiles of several potential acquisition targets by a large broker-dealer
- Co-author, “FINRA Sets February 8, 2010 as the Deadline for Compliance With Rule 2821’s Principal Review and Surveillance Requirements for Variable Annuity Sales,” Bingham.com (June 22, 2009)
- “FINRA Seeks to Delay the Effective Date of the Principal Review Provisions of its New Variable Annuity Sales Rule and Suggests That Further Review May Be Warranted,” Bingham.com (Jan. 2, 2008)
- California Shelves Proposal to Require Pooled Investment Vehicle Managers to Register as Investment Advisers, Part III, Bingham Alert (May 2, 2008)
- Co-Author, “California to Require Pooled Investment Vehicle Managers to Register as Investment Advisers and Also Proposes Changes in its Books and Records Rules and Reporting Requirements for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers,” Bingham.com (Oct. 15, 2007)
- “FINRA's New Variable Annuity Rule: Fast Approaching,” Practical Compliance & Risk Management for the Securities Industry (March-April 2008)
- “FINRA Seeks to Delay the Effective Date of the Principal Review Provisions of its New Variable Annuity Sales Rule and Suggests That Further Review May Be Warranted,” Securities Law360 (Jan. 8, 2008)
- “Regulators Raise the Bar for Dealing With Senior Investors,” Bingham.com (Sept. 18, 2007)
- “A Perfect Storm: Aging Baby Boomers, Annuities, Skeptical Regulators, and Elder Abuse Laws,” ABA Securities Litigation Journal (Fall 2007)
- Co-author, California Proposes to Require Investment Managers to Pooled Investment Vehicles to Register With the State Department of Corporations, Part II, Bingham Alert (Oct. 30, 2007)
- Co-author, With Proper Safeguards, Communications About Legal Advice Between Essential Non-lawyer Employees May Be Protected By California’s Attorney-Client Privilege, Bingham Alert (Oct. 25, 2007)
- Co-author, “FINRA’s New Variable Annuity Rule: Heightened Suitability, Supervision, Documentation, Training and Compliance Requirements,” Bingham.com (Sept. 24, 2007)
- “Regulators Raise the Bar for Dealing With Senior Investors,” Bingham.com (Sept. 18, 2007)
- Co-author, “Overcoming the Effects of Hindsight Bias — Strategies Designed to Counter Jurors' Tendency to Make Decisions on Basis of Outcome,” New York Law Journal (Oct. 14, 2003)
- Co-author, “Securities Arbitration Law,” ABA Section of Business Law Annual Review of Developments in Business and Corporate Litigation (2002)
- “Standards for Pleadings: Drafting Claims, Answers, and Dispositive Motions in Arbitration,” PLI (2002)
- Panelist, Arbitration II, SIFMA-CL 2010 Annual Seminar, National Harbor, Md. (May 2010)
- Moderator, Tracking State Regulation and Enforcement Initiatives: Navigating Differing Requirements to Ensure Compliance, ACI’s Advanced Forum on Securities Regulation & Enforcement (March 2010)
- Panelist, Arbitration II, SIFMA-CL 2009 Annual Seminar, Phoenix, Ariz. (March 2009)
- SIFMA Legal and Compliance Meeting (April 2008)
- Arbitration II, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s Annual Seminar (March 2008)
- Personal Liability for In-House Counsel: Caught Between the Golden Handshake and the Steel Handcuffs, Bingham client seminar, San Francisco, Calif. (November 2006)
- FINRA’s New Arbitration Code, Bingham client seminars, New York, N.Y. and San Francisco, Calif. (March 2007)
- Securities Arbitration and Mediation Hot Topics 2004, The Bar Association of the city of New York
- Securities Arbitration 2002, Practicing Law Institute, New York, N.Y.
- Co-chair, Securities Arbitration Subcommittee, Committee on Business and Corporate Litigation, Section of Business Law, American Bar Association
- Securities Litigation Committee, New York State Bar Association
- Bar Association of San Francisco
- New Jersey State Bar Association
- Former member, Securities Industry Association (now SIFMA), Arbitration Committee
- Former member, NASD (now FINRA) National Arbitration and Mediation Committee
- Admitted to practice in New Jersey, New York and California
- New York State Office of the Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
- U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- Rutgers University School of Law - Newark, Juris Doctor, Merit Scholar (1983)
- State University of New York/Stony Brook, Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa (1980)