Jenny M. Walters
Senior Regulatory Counsel
Areas of Focus
- Hedge Funds
- Seeding Transactions
- Emerging Markets Funds Transactions
- Investment Management
- Energy & Natural Resources Funds
- Real Estate & Infrastructure Funds
- Securities Enforcement & Litigation
- Investment Funds Litigation
- Class Actions
- Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection
- Technology
- Digital Assets, Cryptocurrency & Blockchain
- Fintech
- Global Investment Adviser Regulatory
- Fund Formation
- Fund Manager Transactions
- Institutional Investors
- CleanTech & ClimateTech
- Private Equity Transactions
- Private Equity
- Private Capital
- Focuses on investment adviser compliance and registration issues, as well as securities trading and reporting advice.
- Serves on the knowledge management team for the investment management practice.
Jenny focuses her practice on domestic and international private investment funds and counsels fund managers on securities laws and regulatory compliance. She represents clients on registration and exemptive filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulators, as well as advising on ongoing compliance matters.
A former litigator, Jenny also advises clients on audits, regulatory and internal investigations, and securities arbitrations or class actions. She assists clients in matters related to issues of redemption and liquidity, management and control, and fund dissolution.
Jenny also specializes in legal knowledge management (KM) for private funds practices, with a focus on enhancing client value through the implementation of processes and systems that allow lawyers to deliver superior services faster and more efficiently.
Jenny has devoted time to significant pro bono engagements, handling a wide range of matters, including representing asylum seekers and indigent plaintiffs in civil rights cases. She also lobbied for and obtained passage of a bill enacting an American Indian Heritage Day in the state of Texas. In 2013, she was named Firmwide Pro Bono Counsel of the Year.
EducationJ.D., Washington University School of Law, cum laude, 2007
B.S., University of Texas at Austin, with honors, 2004
J.D., Washington University School of Law, cum laude, 2007
B.S., University of Texas at Austin, with honors, 2004
Bar AdmissionsTexas
Texas
- Legal Diversity Week, Top Women Lawyers, 2018.
- Super Lawyers, Texas, Rising Star, 2014 and 2016.
- Jewish Federation, Attorney Division, Outstanding Lawyer
Under 40, 2010, 2012 and 2014.
- Board of directors, Ntarupt.
- Board of trustees, Akiba Academy.
- Member, Attorneys Serving the Community.
- Member, Texas Wall Street Women.
- Member, State Bar of Texas.
- “Pro Bono in Big Law,” SMU Dedman School of Law Public Interest Dinner Series, Dallas, fall 2018.
- “EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program: SEC Compliance Requirements for Regional Centers,” Dallas, January 14, 2016.
- The Basics of EB-5 Lending, UT Law CLE Mortgage Lending Institute, Austin, September 18, 2016.
- “New EXAMS Guidance – Next Steps for Private Fund Managers,” Akin Investment Management Alert, June 13, 2023.
- “Bureau of Economic Analysis Mandatory 2023 BE-12 Survey Reporting Requirement Deadline Approaches,” Akin Investment Management Alert, May 9, 2023.
- “2023 Compliance Developments and Calendar for Private Fund Advisers,” February 15, 2023.
- “SEC Staff Extends ‘Net’ Performance Presentation Requirement to Case Studies,” Akin Investment Management Alert, January 12, 2023.
- “A Transformation in SEC Regulation of Private Fund Managers,” Akin Investment Management Alert, February 16, 2022.
- “Due Date Approaching for TIC Form SHC—Survey of U.S. Ownership of Foreign Securities, including Selected Money Market Instruments,” Akin Investment Management Alert, January 24, 2022.
- “The New SEC Marketing Rule—Planning Your Transition,” Akin Investment Management Alert, December 15, 2021.
- “SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions: Lessons for Private Fund Managers,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, September 22, 2021.
- “SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions – Lessons for Private Fund Managers,” Akin Investment Management Alert, September 8, 2021.
- “Compliance Reminder: BE-180 Survey of Cross-Border Financial Services Transactions,” Akin Investment Management Alert, September 29, 2020.
- “SEC Risk Alert Highlights on COVID-19-Related Compliance Risks and Considerations for Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers,” Akin Securities Litigation Alert, August 20, 2020.
- “Second Circuit Upholds Sanofi Dismissal Despite Omnicare,” Akin Securities Litigation Alert, March 10, 2016.
- “FINRA and the SEC Issue 2016 Examination Priorities Targeting EB-5 Program,” Akin Securities Alert, January 26, 2016.
- “Fiduciary Duties of Directors Are Key to Minimizing Cyber Risk,” NACD Directorship, June 1, 2015.
- “SEC Issues New Cybersecurity Guidance for Investment Funds,” Akin Cybersecurity, Privacy & Data Protection Alert, May 1, 2015.
- “Viva Delaware!: Strine Upholds Board-Adopted Forum Selection Bylaws,” Bloomberg BNA, August 8, 2013.