Dr. Sharon Brown-hruska

Biography

Dr. Sharon Brown-Hruska is a Director in NERA's Securities and Finance Practice and the White Collar, Investigations and Enforcement Practice. Prior to joining NERA, she served as Commissioner (2002-2006) and Acting Chairman (2004-2005) of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Dr. Brown-Hruska provides consulting and expert witness testimony in cases alleging fraud or manipulation in securities and derivatives markets, as well as numerous regulatory enforcement, litigation, and compliance matters. She has analyzed and testified before regulatory authorities on high frequency and algorithmic trading strategies. She has served as a damages and liability expert in various matters, including cases involving regulatory requirements and compliance, proper treatment of customer funds, and losses arising from a broker-dealer and futures commission merchant ("FCM") bankruptcy.  She has testified as an expert in arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on securities regulatory requirements and industry practices in cases involving fund and asset management of portfolios and structures including CDS, MBS, CMBS, and CDOs, subordination and asset structure, disclosure requirements, rating standards, and valuation of complex securities and derivatives. She has served as an arbitrator for the National Futures Association and serves on the Panel of Recognized International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E. Finance), specializing in dispute resolution and international arbitration concerning derivatives and complex transactions. Dr. Brown-Hruska also advises clients in valuation and modeling and has conducted valuation of derivatives contracts, the trading book, and multi-asset portfolios of physical and financial assets, and the entities that use them. She has evaluated contract settlement procedures and pricing mechanisms for over-the-counter (OTC) transactions and derivatives contracts in credit, interest rates, currency, and commodities markets.  She has consulted on swap close-out and valued settlement amounts and damages in bankruptcy disputes and litigation. She has consulted on disputes relating to the valuation of affiliate guarantees, supply and marketing arrangements, and margins and fees in physical and structured deals in disputes in transfer pricing and tax cases.

Research Interest

Consulting and expert witness testimony in cases alleging fraud or manipulation in securities.