John V. Ayanian

Partner

John V. Ayanian advises clients on broker-dealer and securities markets regulation. He counsels US and foreign financial institutions and markets on all aspects of their US securities trading, markets, and clearing activities. These include issues arising under US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules. He also counsels broker-dealers on regulatory and transactional matters. Additionally, John advises market centers on issues involving market structure issues in the equity and options markets.

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Regulation of Retail Investment Advice

View our resources on the SEC Standards of Conduct rules

Extended Profile

Representing broker-dealers, John counsels clients on US federal and state registration and compliance issues; self-regulatory organization (SRO) membership and compliance issues; and mergers and acquisitions involving broker-dealers. He also guides these clients through issues involving the trading of fixed-income securities, exchange-traded options, and exchange-traded funds; broker-dealer and investment adviser networking and compensation arrangements; and issues relating to the dissemination of securities analyst research reports.

In his work with financial institutions, John advises on SEC and FINRA rules. These include sales practice, advertising, net capital and customer protection, market structure, and the publication of securities analyst research reports, as well as issues involving the use of money market and bank deposit sweep programs.

John serves as co-chair of Morgan Lewis's financial services industry initiative and the Washington office practice leader for the firm's investment management practice. Before joining Morgan Lewis, he was a vice president and assistant general counsel with First Union Corporation, where he worked with its broker-dealer subsidiaries. He also served as a staff attorney and Special Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Market Regulation, Office of Market Supervision, where he was responsible for the regulation of trading and markets.

John is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2009–2020), and received the SEC Capital Markets Award.