Kristin A. Snyder

Partner

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San Francisco

Tel: +1 415 738 5718

Overview

Kristin Snyder is a litigation partner and member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. Her practice focuses on securities-related ... Read Full Biography

Experience

- The Board of Directors of a financial services company in an internal review of senior executive misconduct.
- A transportation company in an SEC disclosure investigation that resulted in a declination from the government.
- A broker-dealer and registered investment adviser in an SEC cybersecurity examination that ended without a referral to the Division of Enforcement.
- A global asset manager in an advisory exam focused on fiduciary questions in certain investment strategies.
- A private fund adviser in an SEC exam focused on custody.
- Two private equity fund managers in an SEC exam focused on fees and expense calculations.
- Venture capital advisers in SEC exams focused on custody, valuation, crypto, and compliance matters.
- A multi-strategy global asset manager in an SEC exam of their credit platform.
- Several private fund advisers in exams focused on artificial intelligence.
- Exams of offshore SEC-registered private fund managers.
- A registered fund complex in a SEC investigation related to fund fees and the 15(c) process.
- A venture capital adviser in an SEC enforcement matter regarding broker-dealer matters.
- A hedge fund manager in an SEC exam involving MNPI issues.
- Several global asset managers and private fund advisers in mock SEC exams.
- A major dually-registered investment adviser and broker dealer in an SEC exam focused on suitability of certain investment products, fee and expense disclosures and calculations, custody-related issues, and in-depth reviews of the firm’s compliance program.
- Numerous registered investment advisers on SEC regulatory compliance matters relating to custody, cross-trading, MNPI, fees and expenses, valuation, artificial intelligence, and whistleblower protections.
- A global asset manager in a cybersecurity internal investigation, SEC cybersecurity compliance counseling, and cybersecurity policy reviews.

Education

University of California at Hastings, College of the Law, 1996, J.D.
University of California at Davis, 1992, B.A.

Kristin Snyder is a litigation partner and member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense Group. Her practice focuses on securities-related regulatory and enforcement matters, particularly for private investment firms and other asset managers. Ms. Snyder is recommended by Chambers USA (2024), The Legal 500 US (2023) and The Legal 500 Latin America (2023). Clients note that she has “has tremendous credibility with government officials and is very responsive.” Ms. Snyder was also named to Securities Docket’s 2024 Enforcement Elite, a list of “the best securities enforcement defense lawyers in the business.”Prior to her role at Debevoise, Ms. Snyder served at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) for 18 years, most recently serving as the Deputy Director of the Division of Examinations resident in its San Francisco Regional Office. In her role, she spearheaded the development of examination priorities for the national and international examination programs covering a spectrum of SEC registrants including investment advisers, investment companies, and broker-dealers.At the Commission, she also served as National Associate Director of the Investment Adviser/Investment Company (IAIC) Examination Program, and as the San Francisco Regional Office’s Associate Director for Examinations. In these roles and her Deputy Director role, she oversaw more than 1,000 employees in the Division of Examinations, directed the SEC’s Private Funds Unit, a specialized group within the exam program that has conducted hundreds of examinations of many of the largest and most complex private funds managers in the world, and managed referrals of examination findings from the Division of Examinations to the Division of Enforcement. She also led the SEC’s National Examination Program Office for the IAIC Examination Program, which develops priorities and initiatives covering investment advisers, including private fund managers, and investment companies. Before her position at the Division of Examinations, Ms. Snyder served for eight years in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement as a branch chief and as senior counsel in the SEC’s San Francisco office, and prior to that was a litigation associate at two major law firms.Ms. Snyder currently serves on the board for Legal Aid at Work, a nonprofit legal services organization that has been assisting low-income, working families for more than 100 years. She is also on the Steering Committee for the Women in Securities (WISe) group in the Bay Area, a network for women securities litigators that seeks to promote their development and advancement. Ms. Snyder received her J.D. with honors from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1996 and her B.A. from the University of California, Davis in 1992.