Charu A. Chandrasekhar is a litigation partner based in the New York office and a member of the firm’s White Collar & Regulatory Defense and Data Strategy & Security Groups. Ms. Chandrasekhar has significant experience representing global financial institutions, private equity firms, hedge funds, broker-dealers, public companies, and audit and accounting firms before the SEC, FINRA, and PCAOB in a broad range of matters involving allegations of securities fraud, investment adviser and broker-dealer regulations, accounting and corporate disclosure issues, cybersecurity, and whistleblowers. She also has substantial advisory experience on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity regulatory compliance and governance. Ms. Chandrasekhar is ranked as a leading lawyer for securities enforcement by Chambers USA (2025), where clients say “Charu is a very strong advisor. She understands the technical aspects of this space and is a great person to work with” and “is extremely responsive and very smart.” She is also recognized on Securities Docket’s 2025 Enforcement Elite, a list of “the best securities enforcement defense lawyers in the business.”
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Chandrasekhar served as an Assistant Regional Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and as the Chief of the Division’s Retail Strategy Task Force. Ms. Chandrasekhar also served as a Senior Advisor and Senior Counsel in the Division of Enforcement’s Market Abuse Unit.
During her eight years at the SEC, Ms. Chandrasekhar successfully investigated and brought numerous high-profile enforcement cases involving cutting-edge and complex practices across the securities markets. She led investigations involving insider trading; antifraud and regulatory violations by trading venues; investment advisers; cybersecurity and digital assets; and market manipulation. Her notable matters included the Commission’s largest settlement against a dark pool; one of the Commission’s largest stock exchange settlements, which involved the Commission’s first-ever charge under Regulation SCI; charges against an underwriter in connection with one of the largest offering frauds involving an American listed international issuer; and multiple insider trading cases with parallel criminal matters. In her service at the SEC in two national enforcement groups, Ms. Chandrasekhar routinely coordinated matters with senior SEC enforcement officials; enforcement and examinations staff from the SEC’s Home Office and regional offices; and parallel matters with the United States Department of Justice, the New York Attorney General’s Office, FINRA and other domestic and international securities regulators.
Ms. Chandrasekhar received the Chairman’s Award for Main Street Investors for her accomplishments on the Retail Strategy Task Force, as well as several Enforcement Division Director’s Awards for her successful enforcement matters.
Prior to joining government, Ms. Chandrasekhar was a counsel at a major international law firm and clerked for the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor when Justice Sotomayor sat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Ms. Chandrasekhar received her J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was the editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Liberties-Civil Rights Law Review, and her B.A. cum laude from Yale University.