SEC, CFTC Veteran to Lead Legal Team for State and Provincial Securities Regulators

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 21, 2020) – The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) announced today that Vincente Martinez has joined the organization as its General Counsel. He will report to NASAA Executive Director Joseph Brady.

“Vince brings a strong background in investor protection and regulatory coordination to NASAA and I am pleased to have someone with his skill and experience guiding an already strong NASAA legal team,” Brady said.

Martinez joins NASAA from the law firm of K&L Gates where he was a partner in the firm’s white collar and regulatory defense practice. Previously, Martinez had a distinguished career at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

“On behalf of NASAA’s Board of Directors, I welcome Vince to the NASAA team and look forward to his work on behalf of state and provincial securities regulators and investors throughout North America,” said Christopher W. Gerold, NASAA President and Chief of the New Jersey Bureau of Securities.

“I am excited to join NASAA and contribute to the distinguished history of state and provincial regulators and their vital investor protection mission,” Martinez said.

During a 12-year career at the SEC, Martinez served most recently as Chief of the Enforcement Division’s Office of Market Intelligence (OMI). OMI conducts market surveillance, supports trading-based investigations, and collects, analyzes, and processes tips, complaints, referrals, and other forms of intelligence submitted to the SEC. He also served previously as an Assistant Director in OMI and began his tenure at the SEC as an enforcement attorney who investigated and litigated anti-fraud actions.

Prior to becoming the Chief of OMI in 2013, Martinez left the SEC in 2011 to establish the CFTC’s whistleblower program and served as the first Director of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office. Before launching his public service career in 2003, Martinez spent six years in private practice in New York and Washington.