Philip Moustakis is a member of the firm’s Government Enforcement & Internal Investigations and Blockchain & Cryptocurrency practice groups.

Philip has extensive experience with SEC enforcement and regulatory risks faced by investment advisers, private fund managers, and other asset managers. Philip represents clients in SEC investigations; provides proactive advice and counselling to clients on regulatory and compliance risks and challenges; supports clients through SEC examinations; and directs internal investigations for them.

Philip has handled matters involving insider trading, conflicts of interest, valuation, market manipulation, ESG products, alternative data and research providers, expert consultants/networks, crypto asset offerings, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), crypto trading platforms, compliance and supervisory failures, and whistleblowers.

For more than a decade prior to joining the firm, Philip served as Senior Counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. As a member of the SEC’s Asset Management Unit, Philip investigated and prosecuted complex matters involving advisers to private funds and mutual fund complexes. Philip also initiated the SEC’s involvement in crypto, in 2013, with the SEC’s first Bitcoin-related enforcement action and was a founding member of the SEC’s Cyber Unit. Prior to the SEC, Philip served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Investor Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney General’s Office.

Philip is quoted frequently in the press on securities law issues affecting asset managers and blockchain companies. Philip is also a contributor to the firm’s Cryptocurrency and Blockchain blog, SKrypto.

Philip received a J.D. from New York University School of Law, and a B.A. in Philosophy, cum laude, from Purchase College.



Publications

Events
  • Speaker, Kudu Investment Management Partner Event: The Year in Enforcement and Looking Forward (Nov. 7, 2024)
  • Guest Lecturer, Cryptocurrency and Digital Asset Regulation: Law, Policy, and the Future of Finance, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Oct. 30, 2024)
  • Panelist, S&K Private Funds Forum: In Conversation with Osman Nawaz, Chief, and Joshua Brodsky, Assistant Regional Director, Complex Financial Instruments Unit (CFIU), Division of Enforcement, Securities and Exchange Commission (Oct. 23, 2024)
  • Guest Lecturer, Capital Markets Regulation, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Mar. 28. 2024)
  • Moderator, S&K Blockchain Symposium: In Conversation with Pamela Sawhney, Senior Counsel, Division of Enforcement, Securities and Exchange Commission (Mar. 27, 2024)
  • Presenter, AIMA Global Policy & Regulatory Forum: Insider Trading Enforcement Trends ( Mar. 19, 2024)
  • Moderator, S&K Private Funds Forum: Fireside Chat with Andrew Dean, Co-Chief, and Kim Frederick, Assistant Regional Director, Asset Management Unit, Division of Enforcement, Securities and Exchange Commission (Nov. 30, 2023)
  • Panelist, S&K Private Funds Forum, 2023 SEC Enforcement Trends (Nov. 30, 2023)
  • Speaker, Kudu Partner CCO and COO Event: What the SEC is Looking for in 2024 (Nov. 9, 2023)
  • Guest Lecturer, Capital Markets Regulation, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Oct. 19, 2023)
  • Panelist, S&K Blockchain Symposium: Navigating the Storm(May 4, 2023)
  • Presenter, S&K SEC Spotlight: Off-Channel Communications and Recordkeeping (Mar. 28, 2023)
  • Guest Lecturer, Regulation of Digital Assets, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Mar. 8, 2023)
  • Panelist, Web3 & the Metaverse: Preparing Your Clients for the Newest Digital Revolution, New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Event (Dec. 18, 2022)
  • Guest Lecturer, Capital Markets Regulation: from Buttonwood to Bitcoin, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Nov. 17, 2022)
  • Moderator, SEC Examinations: Private Fund Priorities, Seward & Kissel 2022 Private Funds Forum (Nov. 10, 2022)
  • Speaker, Launch of the Alternative Data DDQ, Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Webinar (July 7, 2022)
  • Speaker, ESG Spotlight: ESG & the SEC, Seward & Kissel Webinar (June 28, 2022)
  • Panelist, Exam Prep: Priorities and Lessons, PEI Private Fund Compliance Forum (May 24, 2022)
  • Guest Lecturer, Capital Markets Regulation: from Buttonwood to Bitcoin, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (April 7, 2022)
  • Speaker, Hoisted on their Own Petard: Did Boilerplate Disclaimers Destroy the Deliberative Process Privilege Asserted by the SEC?, SKrypto Podcast (Feb. 23, 2022)
  • Panelist, MNPI: Where We Stand Today, Seward & Kissel 2021 Private Funds Forum (June 14, 2021)
  • Panelist, GameStop Mania: More than a Game – the Legal and Regulatory Considerations, Seward & Kissel and Simmons & Simmons Podcast (Feb. 4, 2021)
  • Panelist, SEC Spotlight Series: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Seward & Kissel Podcast (Nov. 16, 2020)
  • Panelist, SEC Spotlight Series: MNPI and Fees & Expenses, Seward & Kissel Podcast (June 17, 2020)
  • Guest Lecturer, Digital Currency, Blockchains, and the Future of the Financial Services Industry, NYU Stern School of Business and NYU School of Law (March 27. 2019)
  • Presenter, Cryptocurrencies, ICOs, and SEC Enforcement, New York State Bar Association, Committee on White Collar Criminal Litigation (Sept. 20, 2018)
  • Panelist, Impact of Blockchain Technology and Bitcoin Securities Markets, Annual International Institute for Securities Market Growth and Development (April 14, 2016)
  • Guest Lecturer, Complex Criminal Investigations, University of Minnesota Law School (March 8, 2016)
  • Panelist, Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology, FINRA Risk Oversight and Operational Regulation Conference (Sept. 3, 2015)
  • Presenter, Bitcoin Case Study, FBI Annual Conference of Certified Public Accountants (July 14, 2015)
  • Panelist, Bitcoin Enforcement Actions and the Crackdown on Cybercrime, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (March 9, 2015)
  • Presenter, Bitcoin 101, Chicago Police Department, FBI, Cook County Attorney’s Office: Joint Financial Crimes Task Force (Nov. 18. 2014)
  • Presenter, Bitcoin Basics, FINRA Member Regulation (Nov. 3, 2014)
  • Presenter, Virtual Currencies, Mid-Atlantic Regional Securities Conference (Oct. 29, 2014)
  • Panelist, Cybersecurity and Virtual Currency, 38th Annual Southwest Securities Conference (Aug. 19, 2014)
  • Panelist, Virtual & Digital Currency and Payment Systems, American Conference Institute (June 24, 2014)