Steven R Peikin

Practice Areas

Focuses on white-collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement, and internal investigations. Represents institutions and individual clients in numerous high-profile matters, including those involving alleged violations of the federal securities and commodities laws, FCPA matters, and bank regulatory and money laundering offenses

Career

Steven Peikin leads S&C’s Securities & Commodities Investigations Practice. Mr. Peikin brings decades of experience at the most senior levels of government and in private practice to his representation of clients in a wide range of regulatory enforcement investigations, white-collar criminal matters, and internal investigations.

From 2017 to 2020, Mr. Peikin served as Co-Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, where he oversaw all aspects of the SEC’s national enforcement program. Among other duties, Mr. Peikin was responsible for executing the Commission’s enforcement priorities, overseeing its thousands of investigations and hundreds of litigations, responding to complex cyber threats, developing a comprehensive enforcement approach to initial coin offerings and other digital assets, and protecting the long-term interests of retail investors.

During his prior tenure at the Firm, Mr. Peikin led S&C’s Criminal Defense & Investigations Group. Before joining S&C, Mr. Peikin served for eight years as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, including as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force.

Mr. Peikin has tried more than 20 criminal jury cases in federal court and argued numerous appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Professional Memberships

Visiting Scholar, Harvard Business School (2020); Adjunct Professor of Law, NYU Law School (2013-2022); Member, Criminal Justice Act Panel, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (2006-2017); Executive Vice-President and President Emeritus, Center for Hearing and Communication, a nonprofit rehabilitation and human services agency for the deaf and hard of hearing; Frequent featured speaker at bar association and professional organization conferences on issues relating to securities and commodities fraud and internal investigations, including the American Bar Association, SIFMA, New York City Bar, Federal Bar Council, and PLI

Personal

Harvard Law School (J.D., 1991); Yale University (B.A., 1988)