Carlos M. Morales concentrates his practice in counseling financial services organizations, including broker-dealers, investment advisers, hedge funds, banks and bank holding companies, with an emphasis on Securities and Exchange Commission compliance and regulation. He offers clients the experience and perspectives of having served more than 20 years in-house with one of the world's top financial services companies. Additionally, Mr. Morales has experience working as an attorney for the SEC and in private practice.
Mr. Morales has extensive knowledge in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Investment Advisers Act of 1940, Securities Act of 1933 and FINRA rules. He also has counseled on matters involving the Investment Company Act of 1940, ERISA and the Bank Holding Company Act. He currently is advising clients on matters arising from the implementation of the Dodd-Frank legislation and regulation thereunder.
Previous Experience
Most recently, Mr. Morales was part of Merrill Lynch's legal team for more than 20 years. He worked with the firm's trading and investment banking, private client and asset management businesses, and the finance and operations division on a variety of legal, compliance and business matters.
From 2002-2009, Mr. Morales was Senior Vice President, General Counsel for Strategic Initiatives, a role in which he was:
- Strategic legal advisor to senior management on legal and compliance matters.
- Responsible for leading the legal and compliance functions, both regulatory and transactional, for the ML Bank Group, ML Global Research and ML Investment Management.
- Counsel to the Merrill Lynch holding company on global regulatory issues and enterprise wide projects.
Mr. Morales was General Counsel of Merrill Lynch's Global Markets and Investment Banking Group from 1995-2002, which involved legal and compliance responsibilities for the trading, including derivatives and prime brokerage, institutional sales, investment banking, research, and private equity businesses of Merrill Lynch. In this role, Mr. Morales led the legal teams involved in Merrill Lynch's domestic and international expansion in the capital markets, including the acquisition by, and integration into, Merrill Lynch of several domestic and foreígn financial institutions.
From 1986-1994, Mr. Morales served as Vice President and Counsel in the Legal Advisory Department, and then First Vice President, General Counsel for Sales and Trading.
Throughout his career at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Morales participated in leadership programs offered through Harvard Business School, including the Merrill Lynch Strategic Leadership Program, Merrill Lynch Office of the General Counsel Strategic Leadership Program, and Merrill Lynch Office of the General Counsel Transformational Leadership Program.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Morales served in the Corporate Department of a national law firm. He was also a staff attorney in the Division of Market Regulation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Awards and Honors
Distinguished Achievement Award, Puerto Rican Bar Association
Distinguished Latino Alumni Award, Columbia Law School Latino Law Association
2007 Corporate Elite, Hispanic Business magazine