wjospin@finchmccranie.com

Walter Jospin represents companies, boards of directors, board committees, and individuals in internal investigations, and in SEC and other securities regulatory enforcement matters. Mr. Jospin also represents SEC whistleblowers.

Government Service

Mr. Jospin is the former Director of the Atlanta Regional Office of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he served from 2015 to 2018. As Regional Director, he led over 110 lawyers, accountants, and compliance examiners in the office’s Enforcement and Examination programs, which cover Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. During his three-year tenure, Mr. Jospin supervised many investigations and enforcement actions relating to financial and accounting fraud, disclosure failures, audit failures, data breaches, offering frauds, Ponzi schemes, violations of the Investment Advisers Act, municipal securities, and insider trading.

Early in his career, Mr. Jospin was a staff attorney with the Division of Enforcement of the SEC, where he investigated and litigated financial fraud, accounting fraud, disclosure, and insider trading cases. Mr. Jospin successfully litigated the first accounting case under the FCPA.

Prior Professional Experience

Prior to joining the SEC in 2015, Mr. Jospin was a longtime corporate partner in the international law firm of Paul Hastings LLP, where he was a member of the firm’s Policy Committee and Unit Committee. At Paul Hastings, he specialized in corporate governance, internal investigations, securities regulatory enforcement, securities compliance, and corporate transactions.

Professional Recognition

Mr. Jospin has been recognized as a leading corporate and securities lawyer by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, Who’s Who Legal Georgia, Who’s Who of International Mergers & Acquisitions Lawyers, Georgia Super Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel Super Lawyers. He served as Chair of the Business Law Section and Chair of the Securities Committee of the State Bar of Georgia. He was also Vice-Chair of the Securities Committee of the International Bar Association. Mr. Jospin has been an adjunct professor at Emory Law School, where he taught Securities Enforcement.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

• Author of “Representing a Witness in an SEC Investigation,” 22 Georgia Bar Journal, 122.
• Co-author of a treatise entitled “Georgia Corporations, Other Business Organizations & Securities Regulation,” published by Lawyers Cooperative Publishing.
• Co-author of “Forming Board Special Committees,” 161 The Corporate Board Journal 1.
• Presented papers on various governance, corporate, securities, enforcement, M&A, and legal ethics matters at programs sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute, International Bar Association, and State Bar of Georgia in the following cities: Atlanta, New York, Washington, San Francisco, New Orleans, Houston, Amelia Island, Vancouver, Kyiv, Prague, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Durbin, New Delhi, Melbourne, and Sao Paulo.
• Co-chair of a Georgia ICLE program entitled “Securities Litigation and Regulatory Practice” (1994-2014, 2018).
• Speaker, “Representing SEC Whistleblowers,” Georgia ICLE Whistleblower Law Symposium (2018-2020).
• Speaker, Brazilian Business Law Institute’s Anti-Corruption and Compliance Seminar (2019).

Community Service

Mr. Jospin served as the board chair of the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, Georgia Innocence Project, Georgia Legal Services Foundation, Anti-Defamation League (SE Region), and Zaban-Paradies Couples Center. He also served on the boards of the High Museum of Art, Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, Jewish Educational Loan Fund (JELF), American Jewish Committee (Atlanta Chapter), Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, and the Piedmont Driving Club. He received the Elbert P. Tuttle Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League, and the Champion of Justice Award from the Georgia Legal Services Program.

Mr. Jospin is a native of Savannah, GA. At Penn, he was a member of the Freshman Heavyweight Crew.