Peter W. LaVigne

Peter LaVigne is Of Counsel in Goodwin’s Financial Services and Fintech practices. He advises clients involved in the distribution of securities as issuer or intermediary at every level, public and private, and his expertise includes broker-dealer and securities regulation and the Municipal Advisor Rules. Peter advises banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, private fund managers and crowdfunding and other financial technology platforms in navigating evolving regulatory and compliance matters. As the Chair of the Business Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and a member and former Chair of its Securities Regulation Committee, Peter keeps a close watch over changes to laws and rules affecting the financial services industry.

Peter's experience includes the registration of new broker-dealers, as well as advice concerning exemptions from registration, mergers and acquisitions involving broker-dealers and the rules of FINRA concerning change in control filings. He represents underwriters and placement agents with respect to FINRA rules applicable to public and private offerings, including rules governing new issues, IPO allocations and research analysts, trade reporting, Regulation M, Rule NMS and the short sale rules. He has also counseled broker-dealer firms in responding to examinations, inquiries and Wells notices. He advises issuers on the use of securities exemptions and assists them in structuring agreements with placement agents and arrangements with third-party brokers permitting the registration of issuer employees on an independent contractor basis.

Peter also advises banks, investment advisers and private fund managers, as well as broker-dealers, concerning the evolving municipal advisor registration requirements and helps fintech innovators to identify and navigate the financial regulations that apply to their businesses.

Peter is the Chair of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Business Law Section and from 2013 to 2016 was Chair of the Securities Regulation Committee of that Section. He was the founder and first chair of the American Bar Association Subcommittee on FINRA Corporate Financing Rules and remains a member of that subcommittee.

Prior to joining Goodwin in 2010, Peter was Special Counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell, where he was a member of the Financial Institutions Group. He served as Assistant Attorney General in the New York State Attorney General's Office, where he was Chief of the Real Estate Syndication Section.

Peter regularly appears in continuing legal education programs, speaking on private offerings under SEC Regulation D and the treatment of finders and other intermediaries as broker-dealers under the federal securities laws. He also writes for a variety of publications on new rulemaking by the SEC and FINRA and other regulatory developments. His publications include:

• “What Banks Must Know About The New Municipal Advisor Rules,” Law360 (December 2013)
• “Know Your Customer Inquiries and Suitability Determinations Under the Updated FINRA Rules,” The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation (November 2013)
• “Keeping Current: Initial Public Offerings - New FINRA Rule 5131 Will Affect Lock-Up Agreements for IPO Shares Held by Officers and Directors of the Issuer,” Business Law Today (July 2011)
• “Strengthening the Nation's Banks,” New York Law Journal (January 2011)