NASAA Names an SEC Veteran as General Counsel

The North American Securities Administrators Association said Tuesday that it has named Vincente Martinez general counsel.

Martinez, who will report to NASAA Executive Director Joseph Brady, joins NASAA from the law firm K&L Gates, where he was a partner in the firm’s white-collar and regulatory defense practice. He replaces Valerie Mirko, who left NASAA in October to join Baker McKenzie as a partner in its Financial Regulation and Enforcement Practice Group in Washington.

Martinez also served a 12-year career at the Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently as the former chief of the Office of Market Intelligence, housed within the agency’s enforcement division.

“Vince brings a strong background in investor protection and regulatory coordination to NASAA and I am pleased to have someone with his skill and experience guiding an already strong NASAA legal team,” Brady said in a statement.

Martinez also established the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s whistleblower program and served as the first director of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office.

“On behalf of NASAA’s Board of Directors, I welcome Vince to the NASAA team and look forward to his work on behalf of state and provincial securities regulators and investors throughout North America,” said Christopher Gerold, NASAA president and chief of the New Jersey Bureau of Securities.

“I am excited to join NASAA and contribute to the distinguished history of state and provincial regulators and their vital investor protection mission,” Martinez added in the statement.