Subprime Dilemma

Alexander M. Vasilescu is the Regional Trial Counsel and Chief of the Trial Unit in the Northeast Regional Office of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, located in New York City. In that position, Mr. Vasilescu oversees all litigations handled by the New York office and serves as lead attorney on various enforcement actions. Since joining the SEC in 1995, Mr. Vasilescu has led investigations and litigations involving violations of a wide range of securities law. Most recently, Mr. Vasilescu led the SEC’s investigation and prosecutions relating to a $3.3 billion accounting fraud at Computer Associates International, Inc. Mr. Vasilescu and his team at the SEC charged 7 executives, including the former Chairman and CEO, the former CFO, and the former General Counsel. In addition, Mr. Vasilescu has overseen various other investigations and prosecutions, including enforcement actions against: Dana Giacchetto, an investment advisor to Hollywood actors and artists for defrauding clients; John G. Bennett, Jr. and the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy, for committing a $500 million Ponzi scheme and a registered representative at Prudential Securities who aided and abetted that fraud; State Bank of India and Citibank, N.A. relating to a multibillion dollar unregistered bond offering; and 17-year-old Cole Bartiromo, for conducting a multi-million dollar fraudulent securities offering on the internet. Prior to joining the SEC, Mr. Vasilescu was a litigation associate at the law firms of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and Kramer, Levin, Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Mr. Vasilescu received a B.A., cum laude, in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University, and J.D. from Cornell Law School.

Jane Azia was appointed Director of Non-Depository Institutions and Consumer Protection in April 2007. 

Jane works to promote the consumer protection mission of the Department. She is in charge of the Mortgage Banking, License Financial Services and Consumer Services Divisions. In this capacity, she oversees the regulation of mortgage bankers and brokers, check cashers, licensed lenders, sales finance companies, and other non-depository institutions. Jane also oversees compliance with CRA, fair lending and other consumer laws, consumer outreach and complaint handling. 

Prior to joining the Banking Department, Jane spent nearly 25 years in the Office of the New York Attorney General, most recently as head of the Attorney General’s Internet Bureau and special counsel for consumer litigation. The majority of her work has focused on consumer protection issues, including credit and financial services and predatory lending. 

Ms. Azia is a graduate of Northwestern University and New York University School of Law.

Benjamin B. Klubes, a partner in Skadden’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the Civil and Criminal Litigation and Government Enforcement practice, represents corporate clients in federal and state enforcement agency investigations and litigation, as well as in private civil and class action litigation. He also conducts corporate internal investigations and advises companies with respect to compliance issues and programs. 

Mr. Klubes has an active enforcement and litigation practice representing a variety of financial institutions and insurers in investigations by the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and state attorneys general, as well as in private class action litigation concerning the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Civil Rights Act, unfair and deceptive trade practices statutes and privacy law claims. He has assisted in the implementation of compliance programs for numerous corporations in a variety of business areas, including the financial services industry, relating to fair lending, federal mortgage lending and privacy laws, mortgage fraud, the Bank Secrecy Act, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Mr. Klubes also has represented mortgage lenders and servicers in subprime-related matters including class action, enforcement and regulatory proceedings.

Dr. Jordan provides expertise in securities and derivatives markets, including valuation and risk management. 

In litigation, his consulting and expert witness experience includes cases involving exchange traded funds, mutual funds, hedge funds, variable annuities, broker/dealers, equity and fixed income securities, currencies, commodities, derivatives, tax-related investments, customerbroker disputes, off balance sheet entities and leveraged buyouts. His work has required modeling, valuation and risk assessment of complex instruments such as structured securities and insurance products. 

In advisory consulting, Dr. Jordan has directed projects in the management of commodity, currency and interest rate risk for financial and non-financial corporations. He has also worked with insurance brokers and underwriters to develop innovative insurance solutions. 

In government, Dr. Jordan served as Financial Economist and Special Assistant to a Commissioner at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He later served as Consultant to the Commission for a study of the stock market crash of 1987 and for the development of regulations for commodity and currency linked debt. 

A former academic, he has held tenured faculty positions as a Finance Professor. His research has been published in journals such as American Economic Review, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business, Journal of Finance, Journal of Fixed Income, and Journal of Futures Markets. He has also contributed to professional books in his field. Dr. Jordan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.