Previously, Eugene served as senior counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement in Washington, DC. He directed prosecutions in a wide variety of areas, including insider trading, undisclosed self-dealing, the sale of unregistered securities, undisclosed underwriters compensation and questionable foreign payments. Upon Eugene’s departure from the SEC, SEC Commissioner John. R. Evans wrote, “I want to commend you formally for the superb work you have accomplished here. The cases you have participated in are known nationally and internationally. I realize you have not served at the Commission to receive such notoriety. Rather, you desire the more worthy goal of assisting in the prevention of fraud and other inequitable and unfair practices in our securities market.”

Eugene has testified before the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Securities regarding enforcement and litigation issues. He has also spoken on topics such as securities fraud enforcement and money-laundering compliance before professional organizations, including the US Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets upon the release of its report, Examining US Securities and Exchange Enforcement: Recommendations on Current Processes and Practices (July 2015).

Eugene is the lead author of the first book on the PCAOB, The PCAOB Mission: Improving Audit Quality via Enforcement, Standards & Inspections, 287 Securities Practice Portfolio Series (BNA 2014).

In 1986, Eugene became one of the first two law clerks for the Honorable Stanley Sporkin of the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Judge Sporkin previously served as director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

For seven years, Eugene chaired the Pro Bono Committee of the Firm’s Washington, DC, office and continues to litigate disabilities rights cases with co-counsel from the DC Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs.

Eugene served on the Virginia Board of the Department for Professional and Occupation Regulation, having been appointed to a four-year term by Governor Terry McAuliffe.

Eugene was delighted to serve as Presiding Judge at the Georgetown Law Center’s Greenhalgh Trial Advocacy Tournament on February 26, 2022. Eugene also served as a Presiding Judge at Georgetown University Law Center’s 2020 White Collar Crime Mock Trial Invitational on October 31, 2020.

Eugene regularly takes part in various speaking engagements. Most recently these include a webinar honoring the career and legacy of Stanley Sporkin, US District Court Judge and SEC Enforcement Director, which was co-sponsored by the Washington Foreign Law Society and McDermott, and four “Anti-Corruption and Compliance” global training webcasts for overseas auditors on FCPA developments, standards on illegal acts discovered during an audit (Section 10A of the Securities Exchange Act) and the SEC Whistleblower Program.

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• Represented the vice president of an entertainment company and a named partner of a New York law firm in insider trading investigations
• Defended a senior vice president for finance in a federal criminal securities fraud case (US v. DeGennaro, 419 F. 3d 134 (2d Cir. 2007))
• Represented a mutual fund president and portfolio manager in an Investment Company Act investigation
• Acted on behalf of a major brokerage firm in an Investment Advisers Act investigation
• Acted on behalf of a hedge fund and director in “fair value” and private investment in public equity (PIPE) investigations
• Served as lead counsel to the City of Anaheim in the Orange County Pool case, which involved disclosure issues stemming from the investment of proceeds from municipal securities offerings (In the Matter of City of Anaheim, City of Irvine, et al., SEC A.P. File No. 3-9739 (1998))

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