WilmerHale

Litigation; Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Anti-Corruption; White Collar Defense and Investigations; Securities Litigation; Securities Enforcement; AML and Economic Sanctions Compliance and Enforcement; Bank Regulation and Enforcement; Consumer Financial Services; Business and Financial Integrity; Blockchain and Cryptocurrency; Trials; Cross-Border Investigations and Compliance; Monitorships; Investigations

Partner
Vice Chair, White Collar Defense and Investigations Practice

Michael Leotta conducts internal investigations and represents corporations and individuals in white collar criminal law and regulatory enforcement matters. He regularly represents US consumer banks, global correspondent banks, broker-dealers, investment advisers, and FinTech companies in a broad range of matters, including defending financial institutions’ compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and related anti-money laundering (AML) rules, securities law, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). He represents clients in investigations and examinations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and state prosecutors; domestic and international financial regulators such as the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (the Fed), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the New York Department of Financial Services, and the UK Financial Conduct Authority; state attorneys general; and Congressional committees.

Before joining WilmerHale in 2011, Mr. Leotta served for nine years in government, including in the White House Counsel's Office under President Barack Obama, as an Assistant US Attorney prosecuting fraud and public corruption, and as Appellate Chief and Ethics Advisor at the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland. Mr. Leotta recently served as a national chair of the American Bar Association’s White Collar Crime Committee and currently serves as a co-chair of its Financial Institution Fraud/Money Laundering and Patriot Act Subcommittee.

Practice

Mr. Leotta’s recent matters have related to (among other things):

Bank Secrecy Act / AML program compliance, Investigating bank and broker-dealer insider abuse, and defending the institutions’ supervision and compliance programs, Bank and broker-dealer anti-fraud controls, Trade surveillance and controls for market manipulation, Securities fraud and insider trading, Investment adviser fiduciary duties and conflict-of-interest disclosures, Broker-dealer, Investment Adviser and Futures Commission Merchant recordkeeping rules related to electronic communications, Low-priced securities trading, Electronic Fund Transfer Act / Regulation E compliance, Consumer Product Safety Act compliance, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and Other federal crimes.

Mr. Leotta has represented broker-dealers in the two largest non-criminal AML enforcement actions ever brought, involving the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FinCEN, and FINRA. In addition, Mr. Leotta regularly represents broker-dealers in SEC and FINRA examinations relating to all aspects of securities law, including the Bank Secrecy Act and AML regulations, Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933, the Market Access Rule (Rule 15c3-5 of the Securities Exchange Act), SEC Regulation M, and the Vendor Display Rule (Rule 603(c)), among others.

He has represented individuals who are subjects or witnesses in DOJ, SEC, and FINRA investigations or internal investigations, including C-suite executives, compliance officers, chief AML officers, federal and state government officials, attorneys, technology company employees, a journalist, and a defense contractor.

Mr. Leotta has also counseled companies on compliance matters, including compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act/AML regulations, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and statutes applicable to media companies.

Prior Experience

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Leotta served in the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland for more than eight years, as an Assistant US Attorney prosecuting fraud and public corruption, Appellate Chief, and Ethics Advisor. His government service culminated in a detail to the White House Counsel's Office as Deputy Associate Counsel.

As a federal prosecutor, Mr. Leotta investigated charges of bribery and fraud in government contracting and procurement, corruption in federal and state government, mortgage fraud, health-care fraud, tax evasion, embezzlement from federal programs, and numerous other federal offenses. Some highlights of his career as a federal prosecutor include:

A trial stemming from Jack Abramoff's corruption of congressional offices and executive branch officials; A RICO prosecution involving a construction company's bribery of a state senator; A law-enforcement-corruption trial against Coast Guard petty officers assigned to drug-interdiction duty; A wire-fraud and obstruction-of-justice trial against a commercial mortgage lender; An embezzlement trial against a school principal; and A health-care fraud investigation of a national health-insurance company.

As Appellate Chief, Mr. Leotta managed the appellate work of more than 70 AUSAs. He directed the briefing of hundreds of briefs in the Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals, trained AUSAs in appellate advocacy, and personally argued cases of particular significance to the US Attorney's Office.

As Ethics Advisor, Mr. Leotta advised the US Attorney, Assistant US Attorneys and staff on financial disclosures, conflicts of interest, and other ethics rules.

During his detail to the White House Counsel's Office, Mr. Leotta helped manage a team of 12 attorneys vetting President Obama's Executive Branch nominees.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Leotta was a litigation associate at Williams & Connolly LLP where he focused on First Amendment and media law issues, including representation of the National Enquirer and Star Magazine. He represented corporations involved in libel and defamation claims, contract disputes, employment actions, attorney-malpractice claims, and securities enforcement actions, among other matters.

After graduation from Harvard Law School, Mr. Leotta served as a clerk to the Hon. Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. of the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Professional and Personal Activities

Mr. Leotta previously served as a national chair of the American Bar Association's White Collar Crime Committee. He currently serves as Co-Executive Director of the ABA Criminal Justice Section White Collar Crime Division and as a co-chair of the Financial Institution Fraud/Money Laundering and Patriot Act Subcommittee of the White Collar Crime Committee. He is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Mr. Leotta has previously served on the Board of Governors of the Federal Bar Association, Maryland Chapter, as assistant treasurer to the campaign of Congressman John P. Sarbanes, as treasurer of the Mike Rosenbaum for Maryland gubernatorial campaign, as treasurer and board member of the Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. Appellate Advocacy Fellowship, Inc. (a nonprofit organization devoted to public service and appellate impact litigation), and as the president and board member of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Maryland.

Memberships: American Bar Association, White Collar Crime Committee Francis D. Murnaghan, Jr. Appellate Advocacy Fellowship Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Maryland

Bar Admissions: District of Columbia Maryland

Harvard Law School, J.D. (1997)

University of Maryland at College Park, B.A. (1994)