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Testimonial
"I provide financial institutions with practical, business-oriented advice regarding US broker-dealer, trading, and marketplace regulations."
Tim Foley advises global and U.S. financial institutions, particularly U.S.-registered broker-dealers, in regulatory compliance and enforcement matters involving the SEC, FINRA, CFTC, self-regulatory organizations (SRO) and state and foreign regulatory agencies.
Tim has extensive experience advising multinational financial institutions, investment banks, wealth managers, depository institutions, custodians and clearing agencies, and fund complexes and sponsors (including alternative investment platforms) in matters involving Exchange Act licensing and regulatory requirements, including issues involving advertising, communications, underwriting, compensation, trading restrictions, and research. Tim has extensive experience advising clients in connection with regulatory change management, including regulatory approvals related to acquisitions and expansions of operations. Tim also advises financial institutions regarding the intersection of broker-dealer and marketplace regulation with registered investment adviser requirements.
Tim has extensive knowledge of sales and trading operations of institutional, retail and limited-purpose broker-dealers, including low-touch algorithmic and direct market access strategies, high-touch and retail sales practices, distribution platforms for access to alternative investment strategies and related dealer syndicates.
Tim has also handled an extensive variety of regulatory inquiries and related investigations, in particular FINRA enforcement and market regulation matters involving issues such as market manipulation, fair pricing and mark-up/mark-down, trade reporting, short sales, distribution restricted periods and marketplace structure rules. He has conducted large-scale retail sales practice investigations for retail broker-dealers, particularly independent broker-dealers and their individual registered representatives, in large-scale retail sales practice investigations involving complex products suitability. In these matters, Tim offers clients practical, risk-based assessments of applicable regulatory requirements and directly assists client teams in deciphering complex order, execution and routing data and other records.
Tim has also provided pro bono assistance to refugees seeking asylum through both the Asylum Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Executive Office of Immigration Review within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Tim is recognized in Chambers USA 2026 in Financial Services Regulation: Broker Dealer (Compliance). Clients have noted that Tim “is excellent at providing solution-oriented advice and navigating complex issues” and describe him as “a trusted and reliable adviser.”
Tim holds a Juris Doctor from The George Washington University Law School (2007). Tim obtained his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from the University of Maryland (2003).
State Admissions:
Washington, D.C.
Maryland
Tim is a U.S. broker-dealer regulatory specialist, having spent the near entirety of his career in law firm private practice dedicated to U.S. financial institutions regulation and enforcement. Tim has authored, contributed to, and been quoted in a number of publications and media outlets, including American Banker, Bloomberg Law, Law360 and InvestmentNews.