Clifford E. Kirsch
Clifford E. Kirsch is a partner in the New York office of Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. He focuses his practice on regulatory and compliance issues facing broker-dealers and investment advisers and issues raised in connection with the design and distribution of mutual funds, insurance products and other investment products.
Prior to joining Sutherland, Cliff served as Chief Legal Officer for Pruco Securities for over 10 years. He was responsible for advising on SEC and NASD legal and compliance matters, including regulatory examinations and investigations.
He is chair of the NASD's Variable Products Committee and serves on the Board of the National Society of Compliance Professionals. Cliff is a former Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and he previously taught at Georgetown University Law Center. He chairs a number of ALI-ABA and PLI programs on broker-dealer and adviser regulations and serves as author and editor to leading treatises published by PLI on these topics.
Cliff began his legal career at the Securities and Exchange Commission, reaching the position of Assistant Director of the Division of Investment Management and Chief of the Office of Insurance Products. Cliff's tenure at the SEC spanned nearly 10 years during which time he was the recipient of the Manuel F. Cohen Younger Lawyer Award. After leaving the SEC and before joining Pruco Securities, Cliff served as first vice president and associate general counsel at Paine Webber's asset management subsidiary.
Cliff Kirsch has written on various topics relating to investment companies, investment advisers, and the securities activities of insurance companies and banks. His publications include: Investment Adviser Regulation (Practising Law Institute 1996, 1998); The Financial Services Revolution: Understanding the Changing Roles of Banks, Mutual Funds and Insurance Companies (Irwin 1996); and Regulation and Distribution of Variable Insurance Products (Aspen, 1999).