Martin P. Russo
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Phone: (212) 269-1400
Fax: (212) 809-5449
120 Wall Street
New York, New York 10005
Martin P. Russo engages in complex commercial and business litigation in state and federal courts nationwide as well as a panoply of alternative dispute resolution forums. His practice includes financial services litigation and dispute resolution, internal investigations, corporate compliance and white collar defense. For many years, Mr. Russo focused his practice on broker-dealer regulatory defense and litigation.
Prior to joining Gusrae Kaplan Bruno & Nusbaum, PLLC, Mr. Russo was a partner practicing in Nixon Peabody's Financial Services and Securities Litigation Group as well as the Government Investigations and White Collar Defense Group. He has significant experience trying self-regulatory organization disciplinary cases, including multiple trading-related manipulation cases. Mr. Russo successfully has represented regulated firms, their current and former employees, and others in the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, self-regulatory organizations (FINRA, CFTC, NYMEX), and state enforcement investigations and proceedings. He has varied and significant experience representing clients in securities related criminal matters. He also has conducted internal investigations for private and publicly traded companies, both in the U.S. and abroad.
In addition to more than a decade of defending broker-dealers in customer arbitrations, Mr. Russo has served as a de facto outside "general counsel" for many small to mid-sized broker-dealers. In that role he renders compliance advice to proactively assist the Firm's clients to anticipate impending issues and comply with new and existing rules and regulations. Mr. Russo is an active member of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Compliance and Legal Division.
Mr. Russo graduated from Harvard Law School (J.D., cum laude, 1993) and Yale University (B.A. in Economic, magna cum laude, with distinction, 1990). He is admitted to practice in New York; before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; and before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits.
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School, 1993
cum laude
B.A., Yale University, Economic, 1990
magna cum laude, with distinction
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
New YorkU.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of New York
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Professional & Bar Association Memberships
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Compliance and Legal Division
Representative Matters
Represented a publicly traded company in a 10b-5 class action litigation pending in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York;
Represented an offshore entity in an action to recover $4.3 million of misappropriated escrow funds from a New York attorney;
Represented a publicly traded company in a $2 billion fraud based lawsuit pending in Federal Court in the District of Puerto Rico;
Represented the audit committee of a publicly traded company in an internal investigation of the facts and circumstances attendant to an international auditor's disavowal of the GAAP equivalent audit of its wholly owned Russian subsidiary;
Represented the principal of an AMEX options market making firm in a $19 million FINRA regulatory action alleging violations of 10b-5 and Regulation SHO;
Represented an officer of a publicly traded company with multiple international subsidiaries in a $150 million RICO action in federal court in the District of Puerto Rico;
Represented a high-net worth individual in a $300 million FINRA arbitration against a major broker-dealer involving the improper liquidation of a brokerage account collateralizing an affiliate bank's loan;
Represented a well known broker-dealer in a selling away action in federal court in the Southern District of New York;
Represented a New York based broker-dealer in a criminal investigation conducted by the Manhattan District Attorney's office;
Represented United Nations employees in internal investigations conducted by the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services Procurement Task Force in conjunction with the Department of Justice;
Represented a registered representative in an investigation conducted by the Connecticut Attorney General's office;
Represented the President of a broker-dealer charged with the manipulation of the publicly traded shares of the broker-dealer's parent company;
Represented the CEO and President of a wholesale market making broker-dealer in an $18 million SEC enforcement action alleging 10b-5 and 17(a) violations in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania;
Represented the former owner, officer, and director of a broker-dealer in a $3 million fraudulent conveyance action filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York;
Represented a broker-dealer and its principals in a $15 million ($45 million with treble damages) NASD arbitration;
Represented foreign entities named as relief defendants in an SEC enforcement action in federal court in the Southern District of Florida alleging the receipt of $11 million in illicit proceeds;
Represented foreign investors with $16 million of claims in a CFTC enforcement action in federal court in the Camden Vicinage of the District of New Jersey;
Represented the principals of a defunct broker-dealer in a criminal action pending in federal court in the Eastern District of New York;
Represented the CEO of a broker-dealer in a $2 million NYSE arbitration alleging control person liability and failure to supervise;
Represented the head trader of a major market making wholesale broker-dealer that failed in investigations conducted by the NASD and DOJ;
Represented a well known short seller in precedent setting 10b-5 actions in which the SEC ruled that the introduction of accurate information into the market with the intent to affect the price is not a manipulation;
Represented a registered representative in the dismissal of an NASD disciplinary proceeding alleging perjured testimony in an on-the-record interview;
Represented a broker-dealer in a federal court action in the Southern District of New York against the NASD challenging the propriety of the Criminal Prosecution Assistance Group's involvement with DOJ investigations;
Represented a broker-dealer in a bankruptcy adversary proceeding involving RICO and 10b-5 claims in the Southern District of New York in connection with a $40 million SIPC liquidation;
Represented an individual in a joint DOJ and SEC investigation which ultimately resulted in an SEC consent order involving $70 million in fines; and
Represented a broker-dealer in a New York State county criminal action alleging a $100 million securities fraud.