Practices

Peter J. Shea is a partner in the Investment Management Group at Seward & Kissel.

Peter advises a wide range of financial services clients, including exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded commodity pools, exchange-traded physically-backed commodity products (e.g., precious metal exchange-traded products), closed-end funds (exchange traded and privately offered), mutual funds, interval funds, periodic tender offer funds, fund of funds, fund of hedge funds, insurance-dedicated funds, alternative strategy and asset products, business development companies and hedge funds. Peter also represents investment advisers, commodity trading advisers, commodity pool operators, broker-dealers and independent fund directors. Peter’s practice involves the structuring, design, formation and on-going representation of ETFs, investment companies, commodity pools and private funds, including registration and exemption from registration of fund share offerings.

Peter has extensive experience obtaining exemptive orders and no-action relief from the SEC and the CFTC on behalf of funds, advisers and other industry participants, including exemptive orders and no-action relief for ETFs, affiliate transactions and manager of mangers orders, for the successful operation of various fund products and their advisers. His experience also extends to structuring fund products to avoid investment company status, including hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, REITs and asset-backed securitizations.

Peter also represents buyers and sellers of investment management businesses, including the acquisition and sale of ETF and mutual fund  sponsors, which often involve fund shareholder proxy solicitations for, among other things, approval of changes in control of a fund’s adviser, changes in investment strategies and the election of new directors.

Peter also represents clients during regulatory inspections and examinations and assists them in developing regulatory compliance regimes, including conducting mock compliance reviews.

Before entering private practice, Peter served as a staff attorney in the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Peter serves as a member of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities as well as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He is a member of the Association of Securities and Exchange Commission Alumni. He speaks and writes frequently on a range of topics including asset management, investment funds, derivatives, ETFs, and SEC reporting and compliance.

 

Events

Speaking Engagements

  • Panelist, “Hot Regulatory Topics – SEC and the Future of ETFs” and “International ETF Markets: Regional Insights”, ETFGI Global ETFs Insights Summit, New York, NY, 29 October 2024
  • Panelist, “Navigating the ETF Legal & Compliance Landscape,” Fall 2024 ETP Forum, New York, 13 November 2024
  • Speaker/Host, “ETF Bootcamp,” Dallas, Texas, 24 April 2024
  • Speaker, “The Changing ETF Legal & Compliance Landscape” ETP Spring Forum, New York, 25 May 2023
  • Speaker, “Making the Switch: Turning a Mutual Fund into an ETF,” New York Stock Exchange ETF Education Series, Virtual, 11 May 2022
  • Moderator, “The Future is Today: Mutual Fund Conversions: The Better Entry Point?” New York Stock Exchange ETF Industry Summit, Virtual, 27 April 2021
  • Moderator, “Legal and Regulatory Updates for 2020,” New York Stock Exchange ETF Summit, Virtual (September 29, 2020)
  • Speaker, “Exchange Traded Product (“ETP”) Risks: What Endowment Investors Need to Know,” Webinar, 20 June 2018
  • Panelist, “Insights Into Innovative Compliance Programs,” Ascendant Compliance 20/20 Conference, Charleston, SC, 16 April 2018
  • Panelist, “Oversight of Exchange-Traded Funds,” 2018 Fund Directors Summit, New York, NY, 27 February 2018
  • Panelist, “Exchange-Traded Funds: What Fund Boards Need to Know when Considering ETFs,” Webinar, 26 May 2016
  • Panelist, “The Benefits of a Liquid Alts Product in a Portfolio,” Liquid Alpha Summit, New York, New York, 29 July 2015
  • Panelist, “Alternative Mutual Funds: Challenges for Legal and Compliance Professionals,” Alternative Mutual Funds: Challenges for Legal and Compliance Professionals, New York, New York, 1 April 2015
  • Panelist, “Regulatory Outlook for Liquid Alternatives and the Impact on RIAs,” Liquid Alternatives, Las Vegas, Nevada 14-16 October 2014
  • Presenter, Liquid Alts for Fund Managers, New York, New York, 8 October 8 2014
  • Presenter, Liquid Alts for Fund Managers, New York, New York, 1 October 2014
  • Panelist, Effective Fund Distribution Strategies, New York, New York, 13 June 2013
  • Panelist, Pooled Vehicles: Entering the Retail Space, New York, New York, 29 April 2013
  • Panelist | ETFs: Emerging Issues in a Down Market, New York, New York, 4 March 2009

Thought Leadership

  • 30 October 2024, SEC Names Rule Webinar
  • 24 October 2024, SEC Says Crypto ETPs Are Exam Priority
  • 11 January 2024, 2024: The Year of the Spot Bitcoin ETP
  • 26 October 2023, Asset Management and Investment Funds Fall Conferences – New York
  • 29 August 2023, Spot Bitcoin ETFs–Coming to an Exchange Near You (Maybe)!
  • 5 July 2022, United States: Grayscale Appeals to D.C. Circuit on SEC Denial of Bitcoin ETP
  • 1 July 2022, SEC Solicits Comments on Whether Index Providers, Model Portfolio Providers, and Pricing Services Are Investment Advisers: Seeking a Problem for a “Solution”
  • 17 March 2022, ETF Handbook, Third Edition
  • 17 September 2021, Unintended Consequences of Wyden’s Proposal to Change Tax Treatment for Mutual Funds and ETFs
  • 2 November 2020, The New Fund of Funds Rule and ETFs—(Missed) Opportunities
  • 29 October 2020, Unraveling the SEC’s Fund of Funds Rule
  • 7 May 2020, A Program for Compliance with the Exchange Traded Fund Rule 6c-11
  • 5 May 2020, New Listing Rules Adopted for ETFs Relying on Rule 6c-11 – Exchanges’ ETF Listing Compliance Burdens Reduced
  • 3 February 2020, ETF Handbook, Second Edition
  • 23 October 2019, ETF Rule Published in Federal Register: Effective and Compliance Dates Set
  • 30 September 2019, SEC Adopts Long Awaited ETF Rule to Modernize ETF Regulation
  • 2018, ETF Handbook, First Edition
  • 10 April 2018, Division of Investment Management Issues Second Round of FAQs on Liquidity Risk Management Programs
  • 10 April 2018, SEC Proposes Rule Changes to Public Liquidity Risk Management Disclosures
  • 10 April 2018, SEC Delays Certain Liquidity Rule Requirements and Issues Guidance Regarding Illiquid Security Determinations
  • 26 May 2016, “Exchange-Traded Funds: What Fund Boards Need to Know when Considering ETFs