Mr. Bergmann’s practice focuses on complex regulatory matters, with a focus on trading and underwriting issues, short sale regulation, broker-dealer compliance, securities analysts, issuer repurchases of their own stock, transfer agents, and Enforcement-related matters.

He is also a member of the Firm’s Fintech & Blockchain Practice, advising clients on regulatory matters related to blockchain and cryptocurrency assets.

Mr. Bergmann served on the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission for 30 years. While on the SEC staff, he was a Branch Chief in the Division of Enforcement before being promoted to Assistant Director for Trading Practices in the Division of Market Regulation (now known as the Division of Trading and Markets). He later became Associate Director in that Division and then Senior Associate Director for Trading Practices and Processing.

As Senior Associate Director, Mr. Bergmann’s responsibilities included administering the SEC’s trading practices rules, rules applying to short sales, the activities of research analysts, issuer repurchases, and “soft dollar” interpretations. Among other provisions, he was responsible for the development and administration of Regulation M, Regulation SHO, and the SEC’s interpretive guidance on Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Additionally, he supervised the Commission’s oversight program for clearing agencies and transfer agents, the Automation Review Policy program, and the Division of Market Regulation’s Enforcement Liaison Office.

During his SEC career, he participated in a variety of task forces within the SEC, such as co-chair of the task force on soft dollars (use of client brokerage commissions by fiduciaries to purchase products and services), and the task force to re-write the SEC’s rules of administrative practice. Mr. Bergmann represented the Commission on Standing Committee 2 (Secondary Markets) of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. In that role, he made substantial contributions to numerous published reports and traveled extensively. In 2005, he participated in the International Monetary Fund’s mission to assess the financial infrastructure of Spain, with a focus on its securities clearance and settlement system.

Mr. Bergmann received numerous awards from the Commission, including its highest, the Distinguished Service Award, in 1999. He also received the Presidential Rank Meritorious Service Award in 1993. Among his many activities and interests, Mr. Bergmann currently serves as a Board Member and Member of the Regulatory Oversight Committee of Direct Edge Exchange and as a volunteer at the Jefferson Library of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in Charlottesville, VA.

Practice Areas

• Broker-Dealer Advisory & Counseling
• FinTech & Blockchain
• Trading & Markets Counseling

Publications

• SEC Divisions' Statement on Digital Assets
  (Co-authored with Matthew B. Comstock, Maxwell T.S. Thompson)
  (11/21/2018)
  
• SEC Division Director Offers Welcome Guidance on Digital Assets as Securities
  (06/19/2018)
  
• Updating SAFT: Breaking the Security/Utility Token Conundrum
  (06/12/2018)
  
• Regulation A+ Expansion
  Blockchain Law Center | (05/23/2018)
  
• Crypto Fund Offerings and SEC Regulation M
  (03/21/2018)
  
• Regulation A as a Financing Alternative for Securities “Tokens”: Some Considerations
  (03/14/2018)
  
• SEC Speaks 2018: Day Two - Trading and Markets
  Blockchain Law Center | (02/27/2018)
  
• Another Arrow in the SEC’s Quiver: Trading Suspensions
  Blockchain Law Center | (02/21/2018)
  
• What is a Regulation SHO bona-fide market maker?
  (Co-authored with James Dombach)
  Journal of Investment Compliance | (2017)
  
• Larry Bergmann Addresses Regulation SHO and Bona-Fide Market Making
  (12/21/2016)
  

In the News

• Former Senior SEC Official Joins Murphy & McGonigle
  (02/22/2011)
  

Education

• J.D., Boston College Law School
• B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Massachusetts (Inactive)