Ponzi schemes and resulting litigation continue to evolve as fraudsters find novel ways to swindle investors and deceive financial institutions. From traditional investment fraud to high-tech cryptocurrency schemes, these criminals persist in perpetrating fraud while their victims chase recovery of damages through litigation. In seeking redress, the victims pursue not just the alleged perpetrators, but financial institutions that may have touched the scheme — knowingly or not — through claims of negligence, aiding and abetting fraud, and other legal theories.

McGuireWoods is an industry leader defending financial institutions in Ponzi scheme-related litigation. The firm represents entities defrauded in, victims of, or investigated in relation to a Ponzi scheme, including serving as lead counsel in a nationwide series of class actions and securities arbitrations involving one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. Over the past decade, the firm has represented numerous banks accused of assisting Ponzi schemes by providing routine banking services through a variety of business lines and financial products. McGuireWoods has defended such clients across the country, managing jurisdictional variations in Ponzi standards, and developing seminal law related to Ponzi schemes.

McGuireWoods’ Ponzi Perspectives blog leverages the firm’s knowledge to help clients track key decisions and new cases relating to Ponzi scheme civil and criminal litigation. This includes allegations by federal regulatory agencies — such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice — against individuals and entities regarding investment fraud, investor actions, receivership actions and other claims arising from underlying Ponzi-related actions. McGuireWoods lawyers carefully consider and analyze new decisions and offer their perspectives on litigation trends, best practices and emerging issues as new case law develops in this ever-changing litigation landscape.