Andrew Bauer is a seasoned counselor to companies, executives, boards of directors, investors, and individuals with experience as a federal prosecutor, defense attorney and, most recently, general counsel to multiple technology startup companies. He serves as outside general counsel to several businesses, with a particular focus on startup and technology companies, helping his clients navigate complex and sensitive corporate and regulatory issues. Along with general corporate advice, Andrew also regularly handles internal and government investigations, white collar criminal defense, litigation, executive compensation and disputes and employment matters.

Andrew’s legal career has spanned two decades in government, in-house, and private practice. He served six years as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), where he was a member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. As an AUSA, Andrew led investigations and prosecutions involving securities fraud, insider trading, investment advisor fraud, market manipulation, money laundering, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), including as the lead prosecutor on the SDNY’s investigation and prosecution of Visium Asset Management and related individuals. In addition, Andrew served as the criminal AUSA on a number of large investigations into alleged violations by pharmaceutical manufacturers of the False Claims Act and the Anti-Kickback Statute, among other statutes.

After his government service, Andrew was a Partner in the New York Office of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense, Crisis Management, Commercial Litigation, and Securities Enforcement practices.

Andrew then moved in-house, joining One Zero Capital, a venture capital firm, serving as General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel to two of One Zero’s portfolio fintech companies, Better Mortgage and Notable Finance. Most recently, he worked as Deputy General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to Pagaya Technologies, an artificial intelligence (AI) powered fintech also operating in the lending space. Andrew’s experience operating in highly regulated industries (lending, mortgage, real estate, AI, investment management) provides significant value to similarly situated companies. Andrew is comfortable advising companies of varying sizes and maturity, be it as the General Counsel of Notable, a small fintech lender still in its seed round, the Deputy General Counsel at Better, an online mortgage lender, when it tripled in size to unicorn status, or Deputy General Counsel at Pagaya as it went public. In these roles, Andrew was responsible for all corporate legal matters of the company, including SEC compliance, corporate governance, product, intellectual property, commercial contracts, employment, and data privacy.

This combination of experiences — in-house corporate lawyer, federal prosecutor, and law firm partner — provides Andrew a unique and holistic perspective for in-house leadership. His range allows him to provide wide coverage across most corporate legal matters, with a particular specialty as a white collar problem solver with corporate, in-house experience who speaks the language of entrepreneurs. Andrew’s defense practice focuses on the intersection of government enforcement and emergent technology and hot-button issues including artificial intelligence, cyber security, economic espionage, and the use of technology for anti-competitive purposes. His corporate clients have included technology companies, life science companies, real estate companies, financial services, venture funds, hedge funds, and investment advisors.

Throughout his career, Andrew has represented individuals, corporations, executives, and their boards of directors in internal, government and cross-border investigations, as well as related enforcement proceedings and litigation, in matters involving allegations of securities fraud, insider trading, accounting irregularities, FCPA violations, health care fraud, executive misconduct, anti-money laundering violations, and more. He has helped clients navigate complex corporate governance and compliance matters across a range of industries. He has significant experience handling matters involving international enforcement agencies as well as domestic regulatory authorities, including the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and state Attorneys General.

Andrew has conducted numerous jury trials and briefed and argued multiple appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He is admitted to the bar of the State of New York, the Federal District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the Eastern District of New York, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and Fifth Circuits.

Prior to joining SSRGA, Andrew has handled the following matters:
Corporate Engagements
• Numerous asset management firms, in connection with DOJ, SEC, and CFTC investigations involving alleged insider trading, market manipulation (including spoofing), accounting fraud, FCPA, and other securities regulatory issues.
• Numerous publicly traded companies and asset management firms, in advising on their compliance policies and protocols for insider trading, market manipulation, and other securities fraud.
• Numerous pharmaceutical companies, in federal and state criminal and civil government investigations and internal investigations involving allegations of off-label promotion, anti-kickback statute violations, False Claims Act violations and other issues related to sales, marketing and pricing practices.
• Large multinational investment bank and financial services company, in connection with an inquiry from the SEC regarding alleged FCPA violations.
• Large publicly trader consumer products company, in connection with a government and internal investigation into alleged product diversion, corruption, and potential FCPA violations.
• Private equity funds, in connection with an SEC investigation of portfolio companies and potential accounting improprieties.
• Cryptocurrency company, in connection with a series of inquiries from state and federal regulators
• Board of trustees of a large, private boarding school, in conducting an internal investigation into allegations of hazing among students.
• Engineering and consulting firm, in connection with an inquiry from the DOJ regarding alleged False Claims Act violations.
• The Republic of South Africa, as the victim in the prosecution and conviction of a large commercial fisherman in the SDNY for a violation of the Lacey Act stemming from his importation of rock lobster illegally harvested from South African waters, including international asset recovery from the fisherman
Individual Representations
• Private bank owner indicted in the Southern District of New York for violations of the Iran sanctions, money laundering, and bank fraud in connection with a $500 million construction project in Venezuela.
• Real estate broker charged by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for his participation in an alleged bribery scheme to pay millions of dollars to the manager of a Middle Eastern country’s sovereign wealth fund in order to facilitate the sale of a billion-dollar real estate project.
• Sales executive of a global airplane manufacturer, in an FCPA investigation and prosecution by the DOJ and the SDNY.
• Licensed financial services broker charged in the Southern District of New York for a scheme to fraudulently deposit a series of stolen stock certificates, also being investigated by FINRA.
• Former compliance officer of a Taiwanese bank, in connection with an investigation by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the Federal Reserve into potential Anti-Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations.
• Local business owner, in connection with a corruption investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for his involvement in an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving real estate projects in upstate New York.
• Real estate broker being investigated for an alleged scheme to provide bribes and kickbacks to the president of large nonprofit organization based in New York in exchange for guaranteeing certain commission payments.
• Managing partner of a financial services firm based in China, in connection with an investigation by the DOJ into potential criminal tax violations.
Government Service
• As an AUSA, tried to verdict and secured convictions in nine federal criminal trials in the US District Court for the SDNY.
• Briefed and argued dozens of appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• Investigated and prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including as co-lead counsel in the successful investigation and prosecution for insider trading of individuals associated with a number of well-known, multibillion dollar hedge funds.
• Developed a particular focus on cases involving insider trading in the “political intelligence” industry, in which material nonpublic information was leaked from government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), to political intelligence consultants, who then passed that information on to traders and analysts at hedge funds.
• Served a number of years in the Violent Crimes Unit prosecuting RICO, murder, robbery, firearm, and narcotics offenses.

Pre-Law

• Before becoming an attorney, Andrew worked as a trader and analyst in the convertible bond and risk arbitrage groups at a hedge fund, as well as at a venture capital firm investing in and working with internet start-ups.