Meaghan Kelly is a Partner in the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice and a key member of the Firm’s Funds Regulatory and Investigations Practice. Meaghan specializes in counseling various types of fund sponsors across a host of regulatory and enforcement matters. In particular, Meaghan is integral to the Firm’s SEC examination practice—counseling clients on examination preparation, guiding clients through examinations, and advising on creative and achievable solutions post-examination. In addition, Meaghan represents investment advisers in high-stakes SEC enforcement investigations. Meaghan is regarded as a uniquely skilled and experienced regulatory and enforcement defense lawyer, having a pulse on SEC expectations and market practice. She also routinely counsels on questions with respect to the Investment Advisers Act, and provides practical and informed solutions to compliance and disclosure questions. Her clients include sponsors to private equity funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, credit funds, infra funds, real estate funds, as well as registered funds. Meaghan routinely leads internal investigations involving myriad complex and sensitive questions for investment advisers, and also has developed expertise in emerging areas, such as regulatory and compliance matters related to digital assets and artificial intelligence.
Meaghan also maintains a broader robust investigations and SEC enforcement defense practice for financial institutions, public companies, and individuals, both in the United States and abroad. In 2023, she received the Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing in connection with her article titled “The Importance of the ‘How’ and the ‘Why’ in SEC Settlements.” Additionally, Meaghan was named to Global Investigation Review’s 2020 “40 Under 40,” which profiles 40 leading young investigations specialists from around the world.
Meaghan’s recent representations include:
- Private equity sponsors in connection with multiple SEC examinations successfully resolved without further agency action
- Registered funds in connection with multiple SEC examinations successfully resolved without further agency action
- Private equity sponsors in SEC investigations focused on fee and expense allocations, disclosures, among other topics
- Multiple public companies and individuals in internal and SEC investigations relating to disclosures, internal controls, whistleblower protections, accounting practices, MNPI, and the FCPA
Meaghan is a frequent presenter, author, and commentator on SEC regulatory and compliance developments for the asset management industry. Most recently, Meaghan was quoted in a Private Equity Law Report article titled, “2024 SEC Examination Priorities: New Approaches to Old Areas of Concern,” which highlighted key takeaways for private fund managers from the SEC Division of Examinations’ 2024 examination priorities. She has also spoken at American Investment Council’s and Private Equity International’s conferences, where she discussed the regulatory landscape for the private investment industry, as well as compliance perspectives during private equity fundraising.
Meaghan received her J.D.,
cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center in 2008 and her B.A. from Dartmouth College in 2003.