Sec Cryptocurrency Silvestre Fontes Named Director of Boston Regional Office

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that Silvestre A. Fontes has been named Regional Director of the Boston office, starting next week.

John Dugan and Kevin Kelcourse, who have served as Acting Co-Regional Directors, will remain as Associate Regional Directors of the office’s Enforcement and Examinations programs, respectively.

Mr. Fontes worked in the Boston Regional Office’s enforcement program for 13 years, ascending to the role of Assistant Regional Director before leaving the agency in 2011. Mr. Fontes worked on many high-profile investigations and litigation matters, and he served as the first supervisor of the Market Abuse Unit within the Boston office. Mr. Fontes has been Chief Compliance Officer of Bracebridge Capital LLC, a Boston-based adviser of private funds, for the past four years.

“I am pleased to welcome Silvestre back to the SEC — and to the regional office he knows so well. He brings a wealth of experience to our Boston Regional Office,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “I also would like to thank John Dugan and Kevin Kelcourse for serving as Acting Co-Directors of the office and for their continued work respectively as the office’s Associate Regional Directors for Enforcement and Examinations.”

“I am thrilled to welcome Silvestre back to the SEC,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “His experience in leadership roles in the Enforcement Division and in the financial services industry will serve him well in leading our Boston office in its efforts to advance the mission of the Commission.”

“Silvestre is an exceptional leader with significant securities litigation and compliance experience,” said Richard R. Best, Director of the SEC’s Division of Examinations. “I look forward to him joining our leadership team to guide the talented staff of the Boston office’s examinations program.”

Mr. Fontes said, “I am humbled to lead an incredible team of public servants dedicated to strengthening compliance and enforcing the nation’s federal securities laws to protect investors.”

As Regional Director, Mr. Fontes will lead a staff of more than 180 attorneys, accountants, investigators, securities compliance examiners, and other personnel involved in the prosecution of enforcement actions and performance of compliance examinations across Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Island.

At Bracebridge Capital, Mr. Fontes led a team of professionals responsible for managing the firm’s regulatory compliance program. He previously served as Chief Compliance Officer of several Wellington Management Company regulated entities and was a Director in the Financial Services Regulatory Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Earlier, Mr. Fontes was an associate at Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP and Ropes & Gray LLP and clerked for the Hon. Norma L. Shapiro of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College, a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, and a law degree cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.