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Clifford C. Histed
Clifford C. Histed

Clifford C. Histed

Partner
Chicago
+1.312.807.4448
Email Clifford C. Histed @ clifford.histed@klgates.com
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Cliff Histed represents companies and individuals operating in highly-regulated industries, inside and outside the United States, including in the areas of financial markets and health care, in criminal and regulatory proceedings, and represents clients in litigation and at trial.

Cliff is a former supervisory Assistant US Attorney, supervisory enforcement lawyer with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Assistant Illinois Attorney General, and special agent with a federal Inspector General's Office. He has experience investigating, prosecuting, and defending matters in the securities markets, energy, agricultural and financial futures markets, and health care. He has tried 27 criminal and civil cases in federal and state courts, and has handled eleven matters before the Second and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Cliff has conducted or supervised hundreds of investigations and prosecutions,including those involving bribery, insider trading, price manipulation, wash trading, embezzlement and internal fraud, and trade secret theft. Many of these investigations involved parallel proceedings brought by federal regulatory agencies, futures exchanges, bankruptcy trustees, or private litigants. As a prosecutor, Cliff:

  • Supervised the investigation and indictment of an individual in the first case to charge the disruptive trading practice known as “spoofing” as a crime. 
  • Prosecuted and tried the former CEO of Sentinel Management Group, Inc., a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant and SEC-registered Investment Advisor, who was convicted of defrauding customers by using their funds to trade in risky investments and concealing material facts from them.

As defense counsel, in many cases Cliff has persuaded the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission not to file charges against his clients.

Cliff speaks and writes frequently on the topic of futures and securities trading, and on regulation of cryptocurrencies. Notable publications that have quoted him include Bloomberg News, Chicago Lawyer, Crain's Chicago Business, Law360, Institutional Investor, Forbes, Fortune, New York Times, and Reuters.

Cliff has a very active pro bono practice, and has provided legal services to the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission since 2016. He is a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois which provides representation to indigent clients charged with federal criminal offenses.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

Cliff's career includes the following public and private sector organizations:

  • U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois (June 2006—January 2015). Deputy Chief, Securities and Commodities Fraud Section (April 2014—January 2015); Deputy Chief, Financial Crimes and Special Prosecutions Section (July 2011—April 2014).
  • BP America, Inc. (July 2004—June 2006). Worked in both the compliance and law departments directly on the trading floor, providing regulatory advice concerning exchange-traded and over-the-counter derivatives to BP’s energy commodity traders.
  • Commodity Futures Trading Commission (August 2000—July 2004). Supervisory Trial Attorney June 2002—July 2004. Investigated and prosecuted civil violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, including conducting preliminary injunction hearings, taking depositions, and arguing motions in district courts across the country.
  • Illinois Attorney General’s Office (November 1995—August 2000). Assistant Attorney General, Financial Crime Unit. Prosecuted criminal fraud and official misconduct cases across the State of Illinois.
  • Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Education (August 1989—November 1995). As a Special Agent, Cliff investigated criminal fraud against federal government programs. He is an honor graduate of both the nine-week special agent course, and the three-week Inspector General Basic Training Program, at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
  • Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Criminal Defense: White-Collar in Chicago, Illinois, 2024
  • 2023 Distinguished Public Service Award, Issued by Public Interest Law Initiative, October 2023
  • American Bar Association
    • Business Law Section—Derivatives and Futures Law/White Collar Crime Committees
    • Criminal Justice Section—Computer Crime, Intellectual Property, and Trade Secrets/White Collar Crime Committees
  • Federal Bar Association, Chicago Chapter (Member, Board of Directors)
  • Chicago Bar Association
  • Futures Industry Association
  • Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
  • Digital Currency and Ledger Defense Coalition
  • “Effective Controls for Electronic and Automated Trading,” Futures Industry Association Law & Compliance Conference, 25 April 2024.
  • “Digital Asset Regulation and Insights for Asset Managers,” Futures Industry Association Webinar, 10 November 2022.
  • "FIA Forum: Commodities 2022," Hosted by the Futures Industry Association, Houston, 22 June 2022.
  • “Blowing the Whistle,” Futures Industry Association Law & Compliance Conference, Washington DC, 29 April 2022.
  • “Ethics: Use of Zoom and Social Media” featuring speakers from private law practice, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank Securities, and Mizuho Americas, Futures Industry Association Law & Compliance Conference, 30 April 2021.
  • “Internal Investigations” featuring speakers from private law practice and JP Morgan Chase, Federal Bar Association, Chicago Chapter, 6 April 2021.
  • “Bot or Not? Authenticating Social Media Evidence at Trial in the Age of Internet Fakery.”  MyLawCLE webinar, 23 February 2021.
  • “How to Respond to Exchange Inquiries: First Don't Panic!” featuring speakers from CME Group Market Regulation, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Trexquant, Futures Industry Association Law & Compliance Conference, 9 October 2020.
  • Moderator, “The Impacts of COVID-19 on Health Care Investigations” Panel, featuring speakers from the U.S. Department of Justice and K&L Gates, K&L Gates Virtual COVID-19 Health Care Fraud Town Hall, 24 August 2020.
  • “Trading on Trial: Will Criminal Charges in Commodities Cases Continue?” featuring speakers from the U.S. Department of Justice and Brattle Group, Annual Seminar of the Chicago Bar Association's Futures & Derivatives Committee, 5 June 2020.
  • Moderator, “Enforcement and Litigation Developments” Panel, featuring speakers from the U.S. Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, CME Market Regulation, and K&L Gates, K&L Gates Chicago Investment Management Conference, 14 November 2019.
  • Moderator, “Trading on Misappropriated Information: Enforcement Risks and Mitigation Strategies” Panel, featuring speakers from the U.S. Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and CME Market Regulation, Annual Seminar of the Chicago Bar Association's Futures & Derivatives Committee, 7 June 2019.
  • “Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and ICOs,” K&L Gates Chicago Investment Management Conference, 13 November 2018.
  • “Hot Topics in Securities and Futures Examinations and Enforcement and CPO and CTA Update,” K&L Gates Chicago Investment Management Conference, 13 November 2018.
  • “Trade Secrets and Trading Firms: What You Need to Know,” 10th Annual Conference on Futures and Derivatives, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, 1 November 2018.
  • “Grabbing and Keeping the Jury’s Attention,” K&L Gates Trial Academy Presentation, Chicago, 3 August 2018.
  • Moderator, “Enforcement Update” Panel, featuring speakers from the U.S. Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and from private practice, Annual Seminar of the Chicago Bar Association, Futures and Derivatives Committee, 8 June 2018.
  • Moderator, “Enforcement Actions” Panel, featuring speakers from the U.S. Department of Justice, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and from private practice, American Bar Association Blockchain Technology, Digital Currency, and ICO Institute, New York, 27 April 2018.
  • “Cryptocurrency Litigation,” K&L Gates Presentation (with co-presenter Desiree Moore), Orlando, 23 April 2018.
  • “Application of the DTSA by the Courts and Criminal Prosecution of Trade Secret Theft,” (with co-presenter Gina Jenero) K&L Gates General Counsel University Program, Chicago, 4 April 2018. 
  • “Insider Trading: Valuable Tips From the Bar and Bench,” American Bar Association Event, Chicago, 21 March 2018.
  • Moderator, “District Judges Round Table,” Program of the Federal Bar Association, Chicago Chapter, 27 February 2018.
  • “FinTech and Trading and Investing in Cryptocurrencies and Tokens,” K&L Gates Chicago Investment Management Conference, 31 January 2018.
  • “Hot Topics in Enforcement and Examinations,” K&L Gates Chicago Investment Management Conference, 31 January 2018.
  • “Cryptocurrencies: What are the SEC and CFTC Doing in This Space?," Chicago Bar Association, Joint Meeting of the Futures & Derivatives and Securities Committees (with co-presenter John Ruark), 14 December 2017.
  • “Crossing the Line: When do Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings Become Regulated Securities or Commodities? (And what if you’ve already launched your ICO?),” Money 20/10, Las Vegas, 23 October 2017.
  • “What to do When the U.S. Government Comes Knocking,” K&L Gates Presentation and Webinar, Phoenix, 25 April 2017.
  • “Issues in Futures Exchange Enforcement and Compliance,” K&L Gates / EY Looking Over the Horizon Energy Trading Conference, Houston, 18 April 2017.
  • “SEC, CFTC, NFA and FINRA - Examinations and Enforcement,” K&L Gates Chicago Investment Management Conference, 26 April 2017.
  • “Criminal Enforcement in the Financial Markets,” Chicago Bar Association, Futures and Derivatives Committee, 18 January 2017.
  • “Cybersecurity, Organized Crime & Other Evolving Threats: Info Sharing as a Potential Solution,” Money20/20, Las Vegas, 23 October 2016.
  • “Ethical Issues in Representing Clients Who Testify in Regulatory Investigations” and “Criminal Spoofing,” Annual Seminar of the Chicago Bar Association, Futures and Derivatives Committee, 10 June 2016.
  • “The Rising Tide in Health Care Criminal Investigations,” K&L Gates Webinar, 21 January 2016.
  • “Case Studies in Disruptive Trading Practices,” Futures Industry Association Expo 2015, Chicago, 5 November 2015.
  • “Regulatory Risks for Futures Traders – Chicago and Beyond,” Chicago Bar Association, Futures and Derivatives Committee, 16 September 2015.
  • “Regulatory Issues in Hedging and Trading Energy Derivatives,” Power-Gen Natural Gas Conference, Columbus, Ohio, 19 August 2015.
  • “Enforcement Panel Update,” 6th Annual Conference on Futures & Derivatives, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, 17 October 2014.
  • “Putting Markets Under the Microscope: Trends in Securities and Commodities Fraud Enforcement,” American Bar Association E event, Chicago, 22 July 2014.
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