Douglas Yatter is Global Vice Chair of Latham's White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice and Co-Chair of the firm’s Commodities and Derivatives Regulation and Enforcement Practice. He is also a founding member of Latham’s Global Digital Assets & Web3 Practice.
A leader of two Latham practices ranked Band 1 nationwide in Chambers (Derivatives and Fintech/Crypto-Asset Disputes), Douglas advises clients across the financial services and fintech industries and the energy and agricultural sectors in government and internal investigations, litigation, and regulatory matters.
As a former Chief Trial Attorney in the Division of Enforcement of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Douglas' experience with commodities regulation enables him to assist large financial institutions, commodity trading firms, energy companies, fintech ventures, and other clients in navigating a complex and rapidly developing regulatory and enforcement environment. He also draws on his experience to represent clients in class actions and other litigation involving financial instruments and market conduct.
At the CFTC, Douglas was a leader of two of the agency’s highest profile enforcement matters, including both the ISDAFIX benchmark investigation and the investigation of the collapse of MF Global. He also conducted and supervised various other matters involving violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, including fraud, manipulation, false reporting, spoofing, trade practice abuses, customer protection, insider trading, and cybersecurity. His work addressed swaps, futures, and other derivatives across various markets, often in coordination with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Futures Association (NFA), and other domestic and international authorities. In all, his cases resulted in orders for sanctions totaling nearly US$1.6 billion.
In addition to traditional commodities, Douglas advises cryptocurrency clients on a range of compliance, litigation, and enforcement matters at the forefront of regulatory developments involving digital assets and blockchain technology. His recent cryptocurrency matters have included investigations by the CFTC, SEC, and Department of Justice on regulatory compliance for token offerings, centralized and decentralized trading platforms, insider trading, money laundering, and market manipulation.
In his extensive civil litigation practice, Douglas represents clients in federal and state courts and arbitration proceedings in a wide array of complex matters, including securities and shareholder derivative suits, antitrust cases, and transactional disputes.
Douglas serves on the Advisory Board of NYU School of Law’s Program on Corporate Compliance & Enforcement and the Board of Directors of the Fund for Modern Courts. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the ABA Derivatives & Futures Law Committee and the Futures Industry Association Law & Compliance Division. Early in his career, he clerked for Judge Dennis Jacobs of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Douglas is a frequent speaker on enforcement topics and industry trends, including cryptocurrencies, artificial intelligence, and other areas of innovation.
Douglas' enforcement defense and investigation experience includes representing:
Douglas' civil litigation and arbitration experience includes representing:
*Matter handled prior to joining Latham
Chambers and The Legal 500 recognize Latham’s deep global fintech capabilities and track record of landmark mandates.
Benjamin Naftalis, New York Deputy Office Managing Partner, and Douglas Yatter, Global Vice Chair of the White Collar Defense & Investigations Practice, were named 2024 Law360 Fintech MVPs for representing global cryptocurrency players across multiple jurisdictions in first of their kind regulatory investigations, litigation, and white collar matters.
Honorees recognized for advising on high-stakes litigation matters and market-shaping transactions.