Practices
Walter Van Dorn is a partner in Seward & Kissel’s Capital Markets Group.
Walter advises issuers, underwriters and other financial institutions on securities and capital market transactions, including IPOs; public and private offerings of equity, debt (including sovereign debt) and asset-based securities; and exchange offers, tender offers and rights offerings.
In addition, Walter advises clients on all aspects of the US securities laws, including the Securities Act and Exchange Act, as well as the Investment Company Act, Investment Advisers Act, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Dodd-Frank Act, JOBS Act and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. He has practiced as a securities lawyer in New York, London, Hong Kong and Washington, DC. He is a frequent lecturer and writer on the subject of the US securities laws and has spoken at conferences around the world.
Earlier in his career, Walter spent several years at the SEC where he held a number of positions including as Special Counsel in the Office of International Corporate Finance in the Division of Corporation Finance. His areas of responsibility there included offerings of equity securities and American depositary receipts (ADRs), offerings of debt securities by both corporate and government issuers, offerings under the multijurisdictional disclosure system (MJDS) with Canada and mergers and acquisitions involving non-US companies. He also participated in SEC rule-making initiatives such as those amending Regulation S and amending rules governing cross-border tender and exchange offers and rights offerings.
Walter received a B.A. from the University of Michigan and a J.D. from the Boston University School of Law, cum laude.