Partner
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Nihal Patel is a partner in the firm’s Financial Services Group. He counsels both financial institutions and “buy-side” market participants on a variety of regulatory and compliance issues relating to securities and derivatives trading. This includes, inter alia, advice as to numerous aspects of broker-dealer regulation and swap regulatory issues arising under Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act.
He also has substantial experience in drafting and negotiating prime brokerage, derivatives, and other trading and financing documentation. Recently, he was a member of a team that represented ISDA in the drafting of protocols and other documentation for addressing requirements of CFTC regulations adopted under Dodd-Frank. He has also been a speaker on these and related topics at industry conferences in the United States and abroad.
Nihal is a contributor to the chapters on trading and dealings with customers in Lofchie’s Guide to Broker-Dealer Regulation and the swap definition, margin, and employees chapters of Lofchie’s Guide to CPO/CTA Regulation.
He earned his B.A. from Northwestern University and his J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law, where he served on the board of the Northwestern University Law Review. Nihal is admitted to practice in the State of New York.
Practice Areas
- Broker-Dealer Regulation
- Commodities & Futures Regulation
- Derivatives & Structured Products
- Financial Regulation
- OTC Derivatives
- Structured Products
- Swap Regulation
Admissions
- New York
Education
- Northwestern University, School of Law J.D., 2010
- Northwestern University B.A., 2004
Recent Articles & Comments
Given that neither of the banks in resolution were swap dealers, the bulk of this relief will impact CFTC-registered swap dealers with whom the banks transacted.
It would be good if the bank regulators and SEC issued similar relief for relevant swap and security-based swap rules they administer.
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Mr. Behnam's comments on the ION incident are notable in that he suggested that, while the CFTC does not have jurisdiction over third-party service providers used by registrants, it will be looking at the risks of those relationships. In other words, current CFTC registrants might want to re-examine the risks present in their relationships with third-party service vendors.
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The CFTC in the past made a bit of a mess out of handling this issue. (See prior comment.) Writing rules to codify this relief is a positive step. Of course, the proposal can and should receive ample comment from industry participants.
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As was the case when FINRA last delayed the effective date, this action would effectively retain the status quo for six additional months.
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