Perkins Coie Continues Growth

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 15, 2014) - Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that Jesse P. Kanach has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as partner in the Firm’s Investment Management Group.  Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Kanach was counsel with Shearman & Sterling in Washington, D.C. 

“Jesse is an outstanding lawyer and very well-respected in the investment management community in Washington, D.C.,” said William Malley, Office Managing Partner of Perkins Coie’s Washington, D.C. office.  “His comprehensive experience and highly specialized advice are both assets that investment management clients value.”

Kanach’s practice includes advising on exceptions from Investment Company Act registration, as well as monitoring and analyzing the shifting legislative and regulatory landscapes in which his fund clients operate.  He provides comprehensive regulatory structuring and compliance counsel, including on the Securities and Exchange Commission's registration process, examinations, and internal investigations.  He has extensive experience working with registered funds of hedge funds, and he played a key role in the launch of the seminal publicly-offered fund of hedge funds.

“Jesse has the depth of experience and background a sophisticated client base expects from a top-tier investment management lawyer,” said Martin E. Lybecker, co-head of Perkins Coie’s Investment Management Group.  “He is a seasoned practitioner with an entrepreneurial perspective that clients appreciate.  We are delighted to welcome Jesse as a much valued new member of our team.”

In his transactional practice, Kanach has served in a senior role on a major brokerage firm's joint venture negotiations with asset management firms, a financial conglomerate's proposed sale of its global asset management business, a large European fund manager's acquisition of a U.S.‐based manager of registered and unregistered funds, and various other acquisitions of stakes in asset managers of all kinds.  He recently advised a venture capital firm on the formation of a novel crowd-funding platform.

Kanach served as a law clerk in the office of the general counsel of the SEC while earning his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.  He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia.  He is a prolific author of articles, and a frequent panelist on programs and roundtables, at which he addresses emerging issues of interest to investment companies and investment advisers.  Topics he has written and spoken on include insider trading, investment adviser advertising developments, and leading practices for valuing less liquid mutual fund assets. 

The Perkins Coie investment management group offers legal counsel to a broad array of clients in the investment management industry, including registered open-end funds, closed-end funds, business development companies, hedge funds, private equity funds and other private investment companies, funds offered by banks and insurance companies, family offices and their sponsors, investment advisers, independent directors, and service providers. The firm also represents the sponsors of products that compete with registered investment companies, such as wrap accounts and bank collective investment funds. Their investment management lawyers have extensive experience in all aspects of the law relating to asset management and include the former Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, a former SEC Enforcement Branch Chief, and former general counsels of leading investment firms.

About Perkins Coie:  Founded in 1912, Perkins Coie has more than 900 lawyers in 19 offices across the United States and Asia.  We provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation and intellectual property legal services to a broad range of clients, from FORTUNE 50 corporations to small, independent start-ups, as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.  For more information, please visit www.perkinscoie.com.