Former SEC Special Counsel Neel Maitra Made Partner at Law Firm Wilson Sonsini

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) special counsel Neel Maitra has joined Wilson Sonsini’s corporate practice as a partner in the Washington, D.C., office. He will also be a member of the firm’s securities regulatory and complex transactions group.

According to Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini, Maitra has “a unique combination of agency experience and industry awareness that is highly relevant to companies and investors in the fintech sector,” Clark said. He added that Maitra “understands the intricacies of applicable securities laws, regulatory priorities, and enforcement efforts, and the extent to which those can be advantageous or disadvantageous to fintech clients.”

Maitra said he’s excited about joining Wilson Sonsini “because it’s a one-of-a-kind law firm that has built its brand through its representation of companies and investors driving the new economy, and stands alone in its ability to deliver legal services to bold market creators in the fintech sector. He said he looked forward “to the opportunity to leverage my experience to help the firm’s clients define the new fintech frontier.”

After joining the SEC in 2016, Maitra specialized in fintech and cryptocurrency issues. He quickly became one of the agency’s key experts on a diverse range of issues and developments spawned by fintech companies entering or creating new markets.

He also had substantial involvement with matters concerning 1940 Act-registered funds, digital asset trading platforms (including alternative trading systems, or “ATSs”), and issues related to digital assets and decentralized finance (DeFi).

He worked on several proposals to create cryptocurrency-based, exchange-traded products as well. Additionally, helped to coordinate efforts between federal securities, banking, and commodities regulatory agencies.

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Before working at the SEC, Maitra was an associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in Washington, D.C., where he worked on securities, funds, and broker-dealer matters. He started his legal career at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.

He earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School in 2010. He also received a Bachelor of Civil Laws degree from the University of Oxford, and B.A. and L.L.B. degrees from the National Law School of India University. He is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., and New York.