Steven Lofchie and Mark Highman join financial services group in New York

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright today announced that financial services lawyers Steven Lofchie and Mark Highman have joined the firm as partners in the New York office. Lofchie advises financial institutions and corporate clients on securities, broker-dealer regulation and credit and derivative transactions. Highman focuses on broker-dealer, investment adviser, commodity trading advisor and commodity pool regulation.

Regarded as one of the leading financial services practitioners in the US, Lofchie counsels clients on securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and related bankruptcy issues in his regulatory practice. His transactional practice focuses on securities credit and derivative transactions. Ranked by Chambers USA every year since 2007, he was also recognized as an IFLR1000 “Market Leader” in 2023, one of Lexology’s “Legal Influencers” in 2022 and at various times under Best Lawyers in America’s “Lawyer of the Year” for administrative/regulatory law and US News and World Report’s “Best Regulatory Lawyer.”

Lofchie is the founder and manager of the acclaimed legal website Regulatory Intelligence, which has been endorsed by former chairpersons of both the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is subscribed to by government regulators and major buy- and sell-side firms. In addition to a newsletter on daily developments in financial regulations and litigation, the website provides a curated, user-oriented legal and financial library and relevant resources for practitioners, including Lofchie’s Guide to Broker Dealer Regulation.

Highman provides regulatory advice to broker-dealers, investment advisers, commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors. Highman advises firms on SEC and CFTC registration requirements and counsels registered firms on their ongoing regulatory obligations. He assists firms in responding to regulatory inquiries and examinations. Highman advises non-US firms on the regulatory requirements applicable to conducting cross-border securities and derivatives transactions with investors in the United States and advises firms on the regulatory requirements applicable to M&A transactions, sales of private funds and securities offerings.

Lofchie and Highman join the firm’s Financial Services team, which features a multidisciplinary group of experienced and nationally recognized lawyers who possess established track records of providing sophisticated strategic regulatory, advisory and transactional counsel to a wide range of clients, including banks, fund managers, investment advisers, broker-dealers, market infrastructure providers, commodities firms, FinTech companies and payments providers. The Financial Services team’s deep legal and regulatory knowledge, combined with extensive experience in compliance, government relations, public policy and market practice, positions the firm to deliver forward-looking solutions to clients that contend daily with dynamic market and regulatory conditions.

Jeff Cody, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Managing Partner, said:

“Steve and Mark are incredible additions to our financial services and regulation practice in the US, as we continue to provide clients with truly global capabilities in this space that few firms can match. They will integrate well into our team, as they share our firm’s client-centric approach and innovative mindset.”

Andrew Lom, Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Head of Financial Services and Fintech, said:

“Financial services businesses globally face novel challenges due to volatile market conditions, increasing innovation and heightened supervisory standards. Clients look to Norton Rose Fulbright to guide them through such challenges, and Steve and Mark further strengthen our multidisciplinary offering to the financial services industry.”

Vincent Dunn, Norton Rose Fulbright’s New York Co-Partner-in-Charge, commented:

“Norton Rose Fulbright’s New York office has been serving clients in the financial services sector for more than a century. I am thrilled to welcome Steve and Mark to the office, which has already enjoyed significant growth this year.”

Lofchie, who joins the firm from Fried Frank along with Highman, remarked:

“I am excited to join a law firm that can provide clients with strategic advice across a broad range of legal areas and in virtually every significant jurisdiction in the world. We are now joining a team that can fully match the range of its advice to our clients' businesses.”

Lofchie and Highman are both licensed in New York. Lofchie received his JD from Yale Law School, his MBA from Columbia Law School and his BA from Sarah Lawrence College. Highman received his LLM magna cum laude from Fordham University School of Law School, his graduate diploma in law from the City University of London and his MA from the Queens College, University of Oxford.