Latham & Watkins has lured an experienced investment funds lawyer from Kirkland & Ellis to its offices in Chicago.
Nancy Kowalczyk, who joins Latham as counsel, advises investment fund managers and broker-dealers on both transactional and regulatory issues.
"As a regulatory attorney, I primarily represent SEC-registered investment advisers, including registering them, handling day-to-day compliance matters, and helping them through the examination process," Kowalczyk told IFLR1000. Kowalczyk also advised hedge funds and private equity shops on fund formations, fund products, and various structuring and operational matters, she added.
"I was excited about [Latham's] Investment Funds Practice and Financial Institutions Group, which bring together regulatory professionals from across the globe," she said.
Part of the challenge for some of Kowalczyk's clients lies in the fact that a majority of them historically were not regulated businesses. Learning how to interact with regulators, and having their business plans subjected to regulation in the first place, pose issues for them.
"With the Advisers Act, much of the guidance was designed more with registered funds and retail, separate-account clients in mind, so my clients are looking for expertise about how the law is being applied in the private funds space and practical guidance about what they can do as a result," Kowalczyk commented.
Kowalczyk holds a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.