Lara C. Thyagarajan

Lara Thyagarajan is a partner in Sidley’s Securities Enforcement and Regulatory practice. She represents broker-dealers, investment advisers, and other financial institutions in high-stakes regulatory, enforcement, and compliance matters before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. exchanges, and state securities regulators.

Lara focuses on defending firms in complex investigations and enforcement actions involving sales practice issues, advertising and marketing, cybersecurity and data incidents, market conduct issues, best execution and order routing, CAT and trade reporting, and supervisory and vendor oversight. She regularly advises clients facing multijurisdictional inquiries and regulatory sweeps, and counsels firms on strengthening supervisory systems and managing regulatory risk in evolving and technology-driven business models, including digital and fintech.

Prior to joining Sidley, Lara served more than 15 years in senior leadership roles in FINRA’s Enforcement Department, most recently as Senior Vice President, Head of Market Regulation Enforcement and Head of Enforcement Litigation. She was previously the Chief Counsel in charge of New York Regional Enforcement. Lara’s experience provides clients with a sophisticated understanding of regulator priorities, investigative approaches, and enforcement decision-making.

Lara is known by her clients for her strategic judgement, credibility with regulators, and ability to guide them through matters presenting significant legal, operational, and reputational risk.