Barbara Stettner

Practice Areas

Barbara is US Head of Financial Services Regulatory. She is a member of the Global Financial Services Regulatory Steering Committee and previously served as a member of A&O Shearman's Global Board and as the Manager of the Washington, D.C. office.

Barbara focuses on advising U.S. and foreign financial institutions on their regulatory and compliance obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Bank Secrecy Act. Barbara represents foreign and domestic banks, asset managers, private funds, insurance companies and broker-dealers on the various regulatory aspects of their domestic and cross-border securities activities. Barbara also focuses on the regulatory obligations of domestic and cross-border fund raising activities including broker-dealer, finder and placement agent status questions, sales practice requirements and the federal and state pay-to-play regulations.

Before entering private practice, she worked at the SEC’s Division of Market Regulation (now Trading and Markets), where she served as Special Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel and as an Attorney-Advisor in the Office of Risk Management and Control. She also served as Senior Counsel in the Commission’s Office of International Affairs. Prior to joining the firm, Barbara practiced at prominent law firms in Washington, D.C. and London. As part of the Financial Services Volunteer Corp, she regularly provides pro bono technical assistance to emerging markets on the regulatory and supervisory systems of markets and market intermediaries, including Jordan, the UAE, Russia, and Romania.

Barbara is widely recognized as a leading regulatory lawyer, having been recognized in Chambers USA in both Securities: Regulation: Advisory and Financial Services Regulation: Broker Dealer (Compliance). According to Chambers USA 2020, “Barbara is said to bring ‘years of experience of what has worked’ and ‘broad-based fundamental skills and expertise in broker dealer matters.’ A client enthuses that ‘she does an excellent job of spotting all the regulatory issues that might be implicated in a question and bringing all of those issues together.’”