Paul S. Maco

Paul Maco defends municipal bond issuers, underwriters, municipal advisors, lawyers, rating agencies, companies and their employees in government enforcement matters as well as advises on regulatory and compliance matters. Paul brings his combined experience as a former senior official at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in SEC enforcement, regulatory, and policy formation, private sector enforcement defense and transactional work. He provides clients with a comprehensive perspective in enforcement, regulatory, and compliance matters before the SEC, Department of Justice (DOJ), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and states Attorneys General. He brings this same comprehensive perspective when advising clients on matters with the Office of Credit Ratings and corporate governance matters, as well as when conducting internal investigations or serving as special disclosure counsel for complex matters such as pension funding or large infrastructure projects. He coordinates public finance activities in the firm’s Washington office.

Currently, Paul represents several investment banks in separate SEC and FINRA enforcement investigations. He recently successfully represented a city in an SEC formal investigation; secured an Order Granting Reinstatement to Appear and Practice before the SEC as an Accountant for a CPA client; represented several state and local government issuers and underwriters in the SEC's MCDC enforcement initiative, including three settled proceedings with underwriters; and successfully defended a rating agency in an SEC enforcement investigation.

Paul’s direct involvement in SEC enforcement in the municipal bond market parallels the evolution of SEC activity in this market, beginning with his participation as a young lawyer in the Division of Enforcement in the SEC’s New York Regional Office in the preparation of the Staff Report and final report on the SEC’s investigation of New York City up to his present day practice in defending market participants in SEC enforcement and regulatory matters. In between he chaired bar committees, authoring and commenting on proposed municipal market regulations, while practicing in New York and Boston as a securities and public finance lawyer. He returned to the SEC to work for Chairman Levitt and establish and serve as first Director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities. In addition to advising the Commission on enforcement proceedings against approximately 150 municipal market participants, activities relating to the Orange County, California bankruptcy, drafting continuing disclosure amendments to Rule 15c2-12, and MSRB rulemaking, Paul accompanied and advised the Chairman in Congressional testimony and testified himself before Congress. He coordinated SEC efforts to end "pay-to-play" practices in the U.S. municipal securities markets and initiated a program providing technical assistance in developing sub-sovereign debt markets. In October 2000 he returned to the private sector to build his current practice.