The SEC is losing its first policeman in charge of the Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit. The unit focuses on violations involving digital assets and cryptocurrencies as well as the disclosures and procedures of public companies and financial institutions related to cybersecurity.
Robert A. Cohen, who has worked in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement for 15 years and has headed up its cyber unit since 2017, is joining Davis Polk & Wardell, where he will serve on the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense and Government Investigations Group, representing companies and boards in regulatory matters and internal investigations.
Also at David Polk are former SEC Commissioner Annette Nazareth and former SEC Enforcement Directors Gary Lynch and Linda Chatman Thomsen.
As chief of the SEC’s Cyber Unit, Cohen led multiple investigations involving initial coin offerings, including one that charged professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and musical producer DJ Khaled for failing to disclose payments received for promoting ICOs.
Cohen also led an investigation into the hacking of the SEC’s own Edgar database system, which resulted in charges against nine defendants including traders in Ukraine, Russia and California.