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MEMBER HIGLIGHT  - SER Members Patricia Koetting and David MacNair will serve as panelists at the NYSBA program "Elder Financial Exploitation: What are the Laws, Claims and Defenses?", on May 14, 2026 in New York, NY.  Koetting and MacNair will spek during the 4:00 p.m. session, "How to Prove your Elder Financial Exploitation Claim and Potential Defense Pitfalls." This session will be examining brokerage firms’ supervisory and training defenses, the role of key compliance functions, and best practices for reporting and information sharing. The program brings together legal and regulatory experts to address the evolving legal, ethical, and evidentiary challenges of elder financial exploitation. Patricia Koetting is an independent consultant and expert witness with over 40 years' experience in providing statistical analysis of financial accounts.  David MacNair is a qualified Testifying Expert Witness in both Federal Court and at FINRA Arbitrations, specializing in Broker-Dealer cases involving AML, Fraud, Cybersecurity, Day Trading and SEC Rule 15a-6.  For more information on the event visit the NYSBA website. 

Member Highlight- SER member Gontran de Quillacq recently shared an article titled "AI, Autonomy, and the New Rules of Financial Services Litigation."  The article explores how AI-related securities litigation is no longer forward-looking. Over the past two years, the SEC’s AI‑washing actions against Delphia and Global Predictions, the Two Sigma fiduciary‑duty proceedings over ML‑based investment models, and Mobley v. Workday have moved the field from anticipatory to active. The article also discusses Navesink International’s new analysis, which maps the four legal theories now targeting standard AI, the additional exposure created by agentic systems, the causation problem in multi‑agent environments, and the evidentiary record courts are beginning to demand. For plaintiff and defense counsel alike, the governance documentation a firm has produced—or failed to produce—is already the record on which the next AI‑related securities matter will be tried. You can read the full article on his website along with other insights on his blog.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT - SER Member Jesy LeBlanc will be co-hosting a free virtual event on May 6 at 12:00 CST - "Best Execution for Broker-Dealers". As co-founder of the consulting firm, TRADEliance, Jesy brings deep compliance and operational expertise shaped by years of supporting firms across the full trade lifecycle. This panel will share information about the rules governing best execution and their history, along with enforcement trends and best practices for firms to consider when creating or enhancing their programs.  Click here to register for this free event.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT -  SER members David Hinman and Ross Delston will serve as speakers at Lexangle on Experts 2026, taking place April 30–May 1 in Washington, D.C. The conference brings together leading litigators and testifying experts to share practical insights on preparing, presenting, and challenging expert evidence across complex commercial, international, and criminal litigation matters. On Day 1, David Hinman will participate in Experts Panel #1, offering “non‑ordinary advice” for fellow experts on preparing reports and getting ready to testify. David is a CFA and expert witness with nearly 25 years of investment management experience, including managing, trading, and valuing debt instruments. On Day 2, Ross Delston will join Lawyers‑as‑Experts Panel #1, a fireside discussion with lawyers‑turned‑experts on effectively using attorneys as expert witnesses and avoiding conclusions that encroach on the role of the fact finder. Ross is a CAMS, CTCE, and expert witness with more than 40 years in banking regulation and anti-money laundering compliance. For more information about the conference, visit the Lexangle website.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT - SER member Gontran de Quillacq recently shared an article titled “Prediction Markets and the New Insider Trading Problem: Event Contracts, CFTC Jurisdiction, and Emerging Case Law.” He examines how prediction markets have evolved into regulated event-contract markets under the Commodity Exchange Act, bringing with them many of the same legal and market-abuse concerns seen in traditional financial litigation, including insider trading, manipulation, and the misuse of nonpublic information. He outlines the regulatory history, the CFTC’s March 2026 rulemaking initiative, and the developing case law, including ongoing disputes over whether federal law preempts state gambling restrictions. He concludes that as prediction markets grow, the resulting litigation will require the same kind of rigorous expert analysis seen in complex securities matters, including instrument analysis, market microstructure evidence, and close attention to information asymmetries. Gontran is the Managing Partner of Navesink International. You can read the full article on his website along with other insights on his blog.

ROUNDTABLE NEWS - The latest issue of The Expert’s Examiner is out, covering key regulatory developments, member achievements, and upcoming events shaping the securities expert community. If you work in securities litigation, arbitration, or financial dispute resolution, this quarter’s insights are especially timely. This issue, and past issues, are available on our Newsletter page. Forward an issue to a colleague!

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MEMBER HIGHLIGHT - SER member Gontran de Quillacq authored an article titled “Two Tweets, $2.6 Billion Damages.” He looks at the recent securities verdict arising from Elon Musk’s 2022 tweets about his pending acquisition of Twitter and explains how those statements became the basis for what plaintiffs’ counsel described as the largest securities jury verdict in U.S. history. He describes how Musk’s public comments disrupted the merger-arbitrage spread, contributed to a sharp decline in Twitter’s share price, and ultimately supported a finding that the tweets were materially false or misleading under Rule 10b-5. He also explains how damages were calculated across the class period using event-study methodology and why the case is significant for market participants, litigators, and compliance professionals. More broadly, he argues that the verdict underscores the legal and financial consequences of executive social media posts in live transactions, particularly when market-moving statements go beyond what the available evidence supports. Gontran is the Managing Partner of Navesink International. You can read the full article on his website along with other insights on his blog.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT - SER member Gontran de Quillacq recently published an article titled "Zero-Day Options, Retail Trading, and the New Risk and Litigation Frontier." He explains how the speed, volatility, and complexity of zero-day options, combined with increased participation from retail brokers, have heightened risk and made losses more frequent. He argues that supervisors and regulators are not equipped to fully understand or effectively monitor these brokers, and that litigation will become the primary path for accountability. The issue is further complicated by asymmetries in knowledge, technology, and data access, which make it difficult both to understand losses and to substantiate claims. This creates a “chicken-and-egg” problem: discovery is needed to establish the facts, yet those same facts are required to justify litigation. He concludes that cases will become more numerous and more difficult to litigate, and that expert involvement will be critical from the outset, as both traders and attorneys struggle to assess fast-moving, data-heavy trading activity without specialized derivatives expertise. Gontran is the Managing Partner of Navisink International. You can read the full article on his website along with other insights on his blog.

MEMBER HIGHLIGHT - SER member Catherine Mustico co-authored an article titled "Banks Pay the Price When They Miss the Signs of Fraud" in a March 2nd post of Fraud Magazine. The article examines how increasingly sophisticated impersonation scams collide with banks’ inconsistent fraud‑response practices, often leaving victims wrongly blamed for losses. Through a detailed case study and recent lawsuits and regulatory actions, the article shows how institutions frequently overlook red flags, misapply “customer authorization,” and fail to meet their independent obligations under the BSA, EFTA, and identity‑theft regulations. The piece calls on fraud examiners to lead a shift toward evidence‑driven reviews, stronger controls, and more accountable institutional responses. Catherine holds CFE, CAMS, CAMS-FCI accreditations. She co-authored the piece with Mary Scott, Director of Operations at her firm Fundamental Compliance Consulting. You can access a pdf version of the article here or online here if you have a Fraud Magazine subscription. A copy has also been added to SER Library for members.

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