Barnes & Thornburg has announced the addition of Laurian Cristea to the firm’s New York and Raleigh offices as a partner in the Corporate Department. Cristea’s addition closely follows that of Corporate partner, M. Shams Billah, in July.
With over a decade of experience, Cristea advises clients on a range of financial services regulatory, transactional, and compliance matters. His counsel encompasses day-to-day compliance programs, governance, member and participant issues, product development and design, regulatory inquiries and audits, system safeguards and security, technology and connectivity, and the changing cryptocurrency landscape.
“Laurian is one of a few attorneys with deep knowledge of the exchange and clearinghouse space for futures and derivatives, and given the increasing attention and complexity of regulation in crypto and digital assets, Laurian’s arrival is very timely for our clients,” said David Gotlieb, chair of Barnes & Thornburg’s Corporate Department.
Cristea is well-versed in filing, acquiring and maintaining Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) and Designated Contract Market (DCM) licenses from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), as well as state money transmitter licenses and the Virtual Currency Business Activity License (BitLicense) from the New York State Department of Financial Services. He is also an advocate before state and federal regulators on novel issues.
“I’m pleased to welcome Laurian to the Raleigh office’s talented bench of attorneys,” added Allen Baum, partner-in-charge of the firm’s Raleigh office. “Given the city’s burgeoning tech sector, especially in the IT security and compliance arena, his expertise in financial technology will bolster our team’s offerings and commitment to client service.”
Prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg, Cristea was chief legal officer and secretary at a well-regulated exchange group focused on digital asset infrastructure. He also was an attorney for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission; London Clearing House (LCH); and NYSE Euronext.
Cristea earned his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School and a B.A. in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a member of the Law and Compliance Division Futures Industry Association.