Matthew B. Comstock attorney profile image

Matthew B. Comstock

mcomstock@mmlawus.com
1001 G Street, N.W.
Seventh Floor
Washington, DC 20001
T: (202) 661-7034
F: (202) 661-7059
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Practice Areas
Education
  • LL.M., Universität Augsburg, Germany, 1995
  • J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1995
  • M.B.A., University of Pittsburgh, Joseph M. Katz School of Business, 1995
  • B.A., Economics, University of Pittsburgh, 1991
Admissions
  • District of Columbia
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania
Practice Areas

Mr. Comstock, a former lawyer at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, has a diverse practice covering the legal and regulatory aspects of securities trading and markets, including the application of securities regulation to digital assets issued on the blockchain and to technological developments in the securities industry more broadly. He regularly advises trading platforms, broker-dealers, clearing agencies, hedge funds and other clients on a variety of compliance, regulatory and transactional matters, and interfaces with the staff of the SEC and other regulatory bodies on behalf of clients. His areas of expertise include creation of trading platforms, custody and trading of alternative investments/digital assets, broker-dealer financial responsibility, broker-dealer liquidations, securities credit regulation, compliance with self-regulatory organization rules, short selling, regulations governing market manipulation, securities lending and securities repurchase transactions, soft dollars, prime brokerage, and market structure.

Mr. Comstock’s recent significant matters include assisting in the creation of a trading platform for digital assets, establishing cryptocurrency trading desks, assisting a broker-dealer with a FINRA examination and investigation regarding complex financial responsibility issues, and representing a leading global derivatives marketplace with respect to regulatory matters before the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets.

A member of Murphy & McGonigle’s FinTech and Blockchain Practice, Mr. Comstock is a regular speaker at financial industry and blockchain events, and he is one of five authors of Murphy & McGonigle’s proprietary report, Cryptocurrency Regulatory Developments.

Mr. Comstock was an attorney in the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, where he held the positions of Branch Chief, Special Counsel and Staff Attorney in the Office of Financial Responsibility. He had responsibility for a variety of matters relating to broker-dealer net capital requirements, customer protection, broker-dealer books and records requirements, margin and broker-dealer liquidations.

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