Mark Silver is a seasoned securities and financial services attorney with more than a decade of experience handling complex regulatory and litigation matters in a variety of forums. 

Mr. Silver previously worked at the New York Stock Exchange and the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), where he led investigations of violations of federal and state securities, banking, and financial services laws and exchange rules and negotiated complex settlements resulting in billions of dollars in penalties, the termination of employees, and comprehensive remedial measures. 

Mr. Silver began his legal career in the litigation department at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where he represented clients in complex commercial litigations and government investigations involving federal and state securities laws, commercial torts, breach of contract, and antitrust disputes. 

In addition to his regulatory, enforcement, and litigation experience, Mr. Silver has served in several policy roles, including helping to draft the original virtual currency regulations for New York State (the “BitLicense”) and writing a report on cybersecurity concerns in the banking sector.  Mr. Silver has been a panelist at SEC and FINRA conferences and served as the New York State Superintendent of Financial Services’ designee to the Board of Directors of the Empire State Development Corporation.  Mr. Silver also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law, where he led a field clinic at DFS and taught a weekly seminar on regulatory issues.    

Mr. Silver has spent his career working to protect investors, consumers, and the general public, and has represented pro bono clients in various settings, including in a habeas corpus hearing on a motion to vacate a criminal conviction and in obtaining asylum on grounds of sexual orientation and political opinion.  Mr. Silver received the Sanctuary for Families Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy for obtaining the successful dismissal of frivolous claims by an ex-husband against a domestic violence victim.  Mr. Silver received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar, and graduated with honors from Stanford University.