Mr. Shea represents a wide range of financial services clients, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded commodity pools, exchange-traded physically-backed commodity products (e.g., precious metal exchange-traded products), closed-end funds (exchange traded and privately offered), interval funds, periodic tender offer funds, fund of funds, fund of hedge funds, insurance-dedicated funds, alternative strategy and asset products, business development companies and hedge funds. Mr. Shea also represents investment advisers, commodity trading advisers, commodity pool operators, broker-dealers and independent fund directors. Mr. Shea’s practice involves the structuring, design, formation and on-going representation of ETFs, investment companies, commodity pools and private funds, including registration and exemption from registration of fund share offerings.
Mr. Shea has extensive experience obtaining exemptive orders and no-action relief from the SEC and the CFTC on behalf of funds, advisers and other industry participants, including exemptive orders and no-action relief for ETFs, affiliate transactions and manager of mangers orders, for the successful operation of various fund products and their advisers. His experience also extends to structuring fund products to avoid investment company status, including hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, REITs and asset-backed securitizations.
Mr. Shea also represents buyers and sellers of investment management businesses, including the acquisition and sale of mutual fund and ETF sponsors, which often involve fund shareholder proxy solicitations for, among other things, approval of changes in control of a fund’s adviser, changes in investment strategies and the election of new directors.
Mr. Shea also represents clients during regulatory inspections and examinations and assists them in developing regulatory compliance regimes, including conducting mock compliance reviews.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Shea served as a Staff Attorney in the Division of Enforcement of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
