For the Exchange-Traded Derivatives and Crypto Industries:
Gary DeWaal was a widely renowned lawyer that practiced full-time in the financial services industry from 1982 through 2024, specializing in the law and regulation related to securities, derivatives, digital assets, and new technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence and quantum computing). He retired from the full-time practice of law as of August 31, 2024.
Until his retirement, Gary was Senior Counsel with Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP from 2014 – 2024 where for many years he served as Chair of the firm’s Financial Markets and Regulatory practice group. There he principally advised clients on derivatives, securities, and crypto issues, as well as on developing issues involving the advent of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and other new technologies. Gary founded Katten’s digital assets’ practice in 2014.
Earlier, from 2013 – 2014, Gary was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of his own consulting firm, Gary DeWaal & Associates LLC, and from 1986 – 2013, he was employed first by Brody White & Company Inc. (BWC), and then by Fimat (later renamed Newedge), after Fimat purchased the assets of Brody White in 1995; for many years, Fimat – which was a subsidiary of the French bank Societe Generale - - was one of the world’s largest (if not the largest) clearing brokers of exchange- traded derivatives. During his tenure at Fimat, Gary primarily served as Senior Managing Director and Global Group General Counsel, and as a member of the Group’s Global Executive Committee. As Group General Counsel he oversaw the Group’s worldwide legal, compliance and anti-money laundering functions, among other responsibilities. While at Fimat, Gary held Series 24, 7 and 3 licenses. Gary’s last position at BWC was CEO.
Earlier, from 1982 – 1986, Gary was employed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in its Division of Enforcement; his last position there was Senior Trial Attorney. From 1980 – 1982, Gary was an associate with Mudge Rose Guthrie & Alexander.
Gary has JD and MBA degrees from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo (1980) and a BA, majoring in English and economics, from SUNY Stony Brook (1976). AT SUNY Stony Brook, he graduated with high honors, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Epsilon, and as a co-recipient of the university’s Junior Class and Sullivan awards, as the outstanding junior and senior, respectively, based on service and academic achievement.
During his career, Gary was a frequent speaker at public events and at governments’ and self-regulatory organizations’ training sessions – both in the United States and abroad – and an author of multiple articles on diverse topics involving financial services. Gary was also extensively interviewed and/or quoted by leading media for his thoughts on the latest developments in financial services.
Additionally, for many years he was the sole author of “Bridging the Week,” a widely read weekly newsletter (and VLOG) containing a summary of important financial services industry legal and regulatory developments and Gary’s perspective.
Gary has received multiple awards and recognitions, including being inducted into the Futures Industry Association’s (FIA) Hall of Fame in 2023 and being named one of the top five general counsels in the world in 2010 by the International Law Office. Gary served as a member of the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee from at least 2010 to 2020 and was a member of FIA’s Law and Compliance Division’s Executive Committee for over a decade, serving two terms as its president, and two years as special adviser to FIA’s overall executive committee.
Gary led the Katten team that resulted in two Bitcoin derivatives trading platforms obtaining among the first registrations of their kind from the CFTC as derivatives clearing organizations and one of the platforms, also as a swap execution facility and later as a designated contract market. He also orchestrated enforcement/disciplinary action settlements with the CFTC and Securities and Exchange Commission, multiple states’ “Blue Sky” regulators, the National Futures Association, FINRA, CME Group, ICE Futures Canada, US and Europe, and other regulators and self-regulatory organizations worldwide. Gary’s final representation prior to full-time retirement was of ForecastEx, the first CFTC exchange and clearing house registrant ever to be approved for transactions involving two bids (not a bid and an ask) and clearing by settlement (not novation).
For most years from 1996 to 2006, Gary also taught derivatives regulation as an adjunct faculty member at Brooklyn Law School; subsequently, for many years, he presented an annual lecture and supervised student interns for SUNY Buffalo Schools of Law and Business’ New York City Program. Gary has also been a guest lecturer at multiple other law schools, including at Columbia University, Fordham University, New York Law School, New York University and Wake Forest University, as well other business schools including at Cambridge University, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania.
He supported himself while in law and business schools by, among other means, serving as a stringer for The New York Times.
In retirement, Gary serves as a member of the Colorado Securities Board and the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) Virtual Currency Advisory Board. He is also a director of the Institute of Financial Markets (a nonprofit foundations that supports education programs involving financial services), a position he has held since 2013. He recently served as a moderator of a CFTC public roundtable on topical clearing issues and presented a lecture entitled “Change is Inevitable: Approaches to Regulating the Next New Technologies” to staff of the NY DFS and invited guests and served as a panelist for the Practising Law Institute on a panel entitle “Understanding Financial Products, Financial Products Fundamentals: Virtual Asset/Cryptocurrency Product Fundamentals.”
Gary is an avid hiker and iPhone photographer and has a passion for traveling, particularly to national parks. He enjoys reading books and publications regarding multiple disciplines and fiction.
My latest insights on Financial Services. Securities, Exchange-Traded Derivatives, Compliance, AML, Financial Crimes Prevention, Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Cryptoassets, Blockchain Technology and other miscellaneous topics:
Gary DeWaal
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+1 (970) 480 5373
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