George Kostolampros advises and represents public companies, audit committees and special committees, broker-dealers, hedge funds and asset managers, financial professionals and lawyers, and other institutions and individuals in connection with civil and criminal securities law enforcement, compliance and litigation. George has extensive experience handling matters arising under the federal securities laws, including internal investigations and the defense of potential accounting and auditing irregularities, FCPA violations, market manipulation and insider trading. George has represented and advised clients in proceedings involving the SEC, FINRA and other SROs; the Department of Justice; other agencies; and various states’ Attorney General’s offices. George also represents clients in complex litigation involving the securities laws, including class actions.
George also advises clients with respect to corporate governance and compliance programs. His compliance-related work has involved counseling clients on various aspects of the securities laws and drafting policies and procedures, including codes of conduct, insider trading, anti-corruption and FCPA, and other policies. George has also counseled broker-dealers and investment advisers as to regulatory and compliance-related issues.
George’s recent representations have included: representing a former director in a securities class action involving disclosures related to the issuer-bank’s loan loss reserves; representing a public company in a criminal and SEC accounting fraud investigation and in forfeiture proceedings seeking the return of corporate funds, as well as remission and restitution; and representing a former-CFO of a public company in an SEC accounting fraud investigation in which no enforcement action was taken.
Prior Experience
Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Kostolampros was a senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission both in New York and Washington, DC. While at the SEC, he investigated possible violations of the federal securities laws, including accounting fraud, improper mutual fund trading, market manipulation, FCPA violations and other conduct. During his tenure on the commission staff, he worked closely with other federal and state agencies, including the Department of Justice, United States Attorney’s offices, and the office of the New York Attorney General. Prior to his tenure at the SEC, George practiced in general commercial litigation with significant experience in commercial and class action litigation.