Peggy Blake advises US and international financial entities on the application of US securities laws to their activities. She advises market participants on compliance issues and applicable rules under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as well as rules of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) and other self-regulatory organizations. Peggy advises on broker-dealer and municipal market concepts in litigations involving financial market participants, and assists clients with all aspects of broker-dealer registration, including continuing membership applications, materiality consultations, no-action requests and general regulatory and compliance issues.
Peggy assists clients on structuring broker-dealer mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures and has represented clients before the National Adjudicatory Council to overcome statutory disqualification status.
Peggy also advises US and non-US investment advisers and private funds on applicable regulatory requirements under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, respectively. She counsels US and non-US issuers on the Securities Act rules applicable to offshore offerings (Regulation S) and private placements (Regulation D), and she assists global custodian banks in addressing issues of interest in the United States and abroad, including compliance obligations under the Investment Company Act of 1940.
Peggy began her career at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the Division of Market Regulation (now Trading and Markets), and later spent time in the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (now the Division of Examinations). Peggy has worked in the Washington offices of several international law firms where she advised on various aspects of US securities laws; she also spent four years as associate general counsel with the MSRB, where she engaged in rulemaking, regulatory policy, and legal projects related to market price transparency, trade reporting, and uniform practice rules related to the municipal securities market.