Peter Chan

Peter Chan

Partner
Baker & McKenzie LLP

Biography

Peter brings two decades of experience at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to his litigation and counseling work. His tenure at the SEC, as well as a stint as Special Assistant US Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois, have given Peter experience with civil and criminal matters. At the SEC, Peter served as assistant regional director in the Chicago regional office, where he led investigations and litigations of high-profile enforcement cases. In the course of his SEC career, he handled corporate issuer disclosure and reporting violations, financial fraud, auditor independence violations, insider trading, broker-dealer misconduct and failure to supervise cases, hedge fund and investment company fraud, and Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley violations. As the head of the Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit at the SEC's Chicago office, he oversaw cases involving municipalities and public pensions throughout the Midwest, including disclosure failures by states, cities, and underwriters in municipal bond offerings; pay-to-play and public corruption; and securities fraud victimizing municipalities and public pensions.

Peter also served in national leadership roles within the SEC's Enforcement Division. Peter acted as national leader of the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative. He also served as co-chair of the Priorities and Resources Subcommittee of the Division of Enforcement Advisory Committee and was one of the original architects of the SEC Financial Reporting and Audit Task Force.

Peter's experience in criminal securities fraud cases includes serving as Special Assistant US Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois in a criminal investigation into market abuse by a Chicago broker-dealer, resulting in guilty pleas by several senior executives at the firm.

In 2014, Peter received the SEC's prestigious Paul R. Carey Award for his [e]xceptional personal commitment and effectiveness as a member of the Division of Enforcement.

Practice Focus

Peter K.M. Chan represents public companies, financial services firms, and other organizations in litigation, investigations, and regulatory actions by federal agencies. Former head of the SEC Chicago office's Municipal Securities and Public Pensions Unit, Peter also advises clients on compliance and regulatory matters impacting the municipal securities markets and investments by public pensions and other institutions. He is also a leading expert in advising companies and outside auditors in connection with SEC and other regulatory inquiries regarding financial restatements and disclosures.

Professional Honors

  • Recommended, Dispute Resolution - Securities Litigation - defense, Legal 500 US, 2016 - 2017

Admissions

  • Illinois~United States
  • District of Columbia~United States

Education

  • Northwestern University School of Law (JD) (1991)
  • Georgetown University (BA, cum laude) (1988)

Languages

  • English

Publications

Presentations

Peter frequently speaks on securities law and white collar enforcement topics, including as a guest lecturer for Professor David Ruder's advanced securities regulation seminar at Northwestern University School of Law.