Ignacio A. Sandoval is a securities and financial institutions lawyer who helps clients meet their business objectives in a manner consistent with their regulatory obligations. Drawing on his experience as a special counsel in the Office of Chief Counsel in the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Division of Trading and Markets, Ignacio actively counsels broker-dealers, securities exchanges, alternative trading systems, transfer agents, clearing organizations, banks, and other domestic and foreign market participants in both traditional and emerging industries, such as digital assets and the use of artificial intelligence.
Ignacio regularly engages with the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on behalf of clients on critical matters related to their business by seeking regulatory relief, interpretive guidance, exemptions, and as a subject matter expert in enforcement and examination matters. He advises major US broker-dealers in their clearing, retail, trading, and institutional businesses, and on their financial responsibility and operational obligations. More specifically, Ignacio has counseled numerous broker-dealers on their obligations under the net capital rule (Rule 15c3-1), the customer protection rule (Rule 15c3-3), margin (Regulation T, Regulation U, Regulation X, FINRA Rule 4210, etc.), recordkeeping and reporting rules (Rule 17a-3, Rule 17a-4, Rule 17a-5, Rule 17a-8, Rule 17a-11, Rule 17a-13, etc.) and other middle office and back-office requirements. He has drafted market standard clearing and custody agreements for various broker-dealers and has experience working on various types of agreements impacting market intermediaries and participants, including trading agreements, customer agreements, distribution agreements, and platform agreements.
Ignacio also regularly registers and provides ongoing support to alternative trading systems (ATS) and counsels market participants regarding their obligations to register as such. In addition, he has helped broker-dealers develop management platforms for clients involving money market funds and other cash equivalent instruments. He also has experience with cash sweep programs involving money market funds and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)–insured bank deposit programs.
Ignacio’s additional experience includes matters relating to domestic and foreign broker-dealer registration matters, customer account statement and confirmation requirements, mergers and acquisition brokers, anti-money laundering obligations for buy side and sell side participants, transaction confirmations, and the outsourcing of broker-dealer technology and platforms. He also counsels foreign exchanges and foreign clearing organizations regarding their US regulatory obligations regarding US person access to foreign options markets and security-futures products.
Member, Best ETF Law Firm, ETF Express US Awards (2021, 2022)
Recommended, Finance: Structured finance: derivatives and structured products, The Legal 500 US (2021, 2022)
General Counsel, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (2021)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Asset Management, Law360 (2017)