Michael Berenson

Senior Counsel

Michael Berenson is a senior counsel in Morgan Lewis's Investment Management and Securities Industry Practice. Mr. Berenson’s practice is concentrated in securities law matters involving investment products issued by insurance companies, including variable annuities and variable life insurance, mutual funds and traditional investment management.

Mr. Berenson is nationally recognized in the field of variable products and was directly involved in the first variable product to be offered through the Internet and without paper prospectuses. Mr. Berenson also has significant experience in private placements of variable products and their underlying investment options, including hedge funds.

Prior to private practice, Mr. Berenson was Chief of the Division of Investment Management’s Office of Insurance Products and Legal Compliance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he supervised the processing of all insurance company SEC registered products. He also directed the development of the SEC’s Rule 6e-3(T) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, dealing with variable life insurance, and Rule 151 under the Securities Act of 1933, dealing with the status of annuity contracts under the federal securities law. Past positions at the SEC include Chief of the Division’s Investment Advisers Study Group and Special Counsel in Charge of Compliance. At the SEC, Mr. Berenson gained extensive experience in dealing with issues arising under the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act relating to financial services offered through broker-dealers, banks, insurance companies, and investment bankers.

Mr. Berenson has been a frequent panelist at the ALI/ABA Conference on Securities and Tax Aspects of Life Insurance Company Products, the Investment Company Institute Procedures Conference, the Mutual Funds Conference, and other securities law panels.

Mr. Berenson is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and before the U.S. Supreme Court.