Benjamin Naftalis is New York Deputy Office Managing Partner and former Global Co-Chair of the firm’s White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice.
Ben, a former federal prosecutor, advises companies, boards, and executives facing government investigations, enforcement actions, high-stakes disputes, and crises. He is a go-to counselor for sensitive board and audit committee matters, and advises on internal investigations, special committee assignments, and compliance issues. He also counsels fund managers on regulatory compliance, trading, and deal-related diligence.
Ben’s representative clients include Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), BC Partners, BTIG, Endeavor, Funko, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Lands’ End, Nissan, One Rock Capital Partners, Shift4 Payments, Silver Lake, TKO, and UFC.
Ben has deep expertise before the Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), and the NY Attorney General. His matters span securities and commodities fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, accounting and healthcare fraud, prescription drug diversion, bribery and corruption, sanctions, and money laundering. He maintains an active civil docket.
Ben is a recognized leader in digital asset, fintech, and AI enforcement. Since prosecuting the first cryptocurrency securities fraud in 2014, he has advised on disputes and investigations involving token offerings, centralized and decentralized trading platforms, stablecoins, insider trading, money laundering, and market manipulation. Chambers ranks him Band 1 for Crypto-Asset Disputes, and Law360 named him a 2024 Fintech MVP. Chambers USA and Legal 500 US rank him a preeminent white collar practitioner.
Before private practice, Ben served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York (SDNY), leaving as a senior member of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. He conducted joint and parallel investigations with the FBI, SEC, CFTC, DEA, DoD, and foreign regulators, leading domestic and cross-border matters involving securities fraud, insider trading, market manipulation, accounting and wire fraud, terrorism and national security, money laundering, and narcotics trafficking. He tried eight federal jury trials and briefed and argued over 10 appeals before the Second Circuit.
Ben clerked for Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York and Judge Dennis Jacobs of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He began his career as a corporate development analyst at DoubleClick, later acquired by Google.
Ben is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Ben’s notable experience includes representing:
Ben Naftalis and Ray C. Schrock honored for distinguished leadership and community impact.
Two wins and seven finalist honors in the NYLJ’s annual awards program — including for Large Law Firm of the Year — reflect the firm’s litigation, transactional, and regulatory prowess, innovative office and practice leadership, and clear market leadership in New York.
Firm adds Band 1 Fintech ranking in Hong Kong, maintains Band 1 rankings across the US, UK, Germany, and the UAE.