Jennifer L. Zordani

Jennifer Zordani's experience encompasses more than 20 years as a trusted business counselor. Prior to founding Zordani Law, Ms. Zordani was a Partner at Ungaretti & Harris LLP (now Nixon Peabody) where she practiced law as a member of the firm's Financial Services and Corporate Law departments. Ms. Zordani maintains a diverse practice that encompasses a wide range of regulatory, transactional and litigation matters.

In the transactional arena, representative experience includes:

• negotiating the separation of business partners and the transition of the business to new management
• assisting a broker-dealer acquiring a prime brokerage business
• assisting a commodity trading advisor selling its business to, and counseling the principal on continued employment with, an investment group
• serving as special counsel to a private equity fund acquiring an investment in a futures commission merchant and analyzing the customer base, risk management and capital requirements of the business
• drafting customer agreements for financial services and consumer goods companies

In the financial services regulatory arena, Ms. Zordani’s range of experience gives her a unique perspective and ability to understand client goals as they navigate the heavily regulated financial services industry. Her experience includes:

• counseling broker-dealers and investment advisors on the ever-changing rules and regulations applicable to their businesses, such as the requirements for complying with Reg SHO, net capital requirements, custody requirements and required customer disclosures
• assisting clients with designing effective policies and procedures, including for compliance with Rule 15c3-5 and algorithmic trading
• assisting clients with the formation of their business and registration as a broker-dealer or investment adviser, including completion of registration forms

In the financial services enforcement defense arena, her experience includes:

• achieving the closure of an insider trading investigation without action against a registered representative
• favorably resolving allegations of significant violations of Reg SHO against a proprietary trading firm and its traders
• regularly resolving all varieties of alleged violations of SRO rules and regulations

In the arbitration and litigation arena, Ms. Zordani's representative experience includes:

• successfully representing a proprietary trading firm in a FINRA arbitration dispute over a trade in which the claimants were seeking in excess of $3 million
• successfully representing a brokerage firm and its founding partner against allegations of breach of fiduciary duty and breach of contract alleged by a partner
• representing an international investment bank in challenging the class settlement reached in the CME Group, Inc. v. Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc.

Publications

• "Risk Focused: Third Party Reviews As Part of an Effective Risk Management Program", Investment Adviser Association Newsletter, November 2016
• "Cultural Values", National Society of Compliance Professionals, Currents, March 2016.
• "Compliance Projects", Illinois State Bar Association, Business & Securities Law Forum, July 2013
• "Markets need more progressive oversight", Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, August 27, 2012
• "SEC embarks on first-of-its-kind lawsuit," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, December 22, 2011
• "Regulating Real Estate Funds," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, March 22, 2011
• "A Look at the Reporting of Suspicious Trading Activities," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, July 27, 2010
• "A Regulatory Analysis of Cross Trading and Order Aggregation," Journal of Investment Compliance (JIC)

Memberships & Affiliations

• Former Chairperson, Financial & Investment Services Committee of the Chicago Bar Association
• Securities Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association
• Derivatives Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association

Education

• Chicago-Kent College of Law (J.D., 1994)
• University of Chicago (B.A., 1985)

Admissions

• Illinois (1994)