Jason Jurgens advises financial institutions regarding some of their most significant and challenging matters, including those involving corporate control contests, industry-changing regulatory developments, high-profile enforcement inquiries, and litigations that threaten the viability of their businesses.
Jason has nearly 25 years of experience litigating civil and regulatory enforcement matters, including those related to RMBS (residential mortgage-backed securities), CMBS (commercial mortgage-backed securities), CLOs (collateralized loan obligations), GICs (guaranteed investment contracts), commercial real estate, derivatives, commodity futures, and options. This experience includes some of the earliest and largest "financial crisis" cases and some of the most complex bankruptcies involving derivatives and structured finance arrangements.
Jason leads Jones Day's best-in-class benchmark transition team, which has helped numerous banks, trustees, asset managers, and corporations navigate the cessation of LIBOR. Jason also frequently counsels financial institutions regarding litigation and regulatory risks inherent in complex contractual arrangements, corporate restructurings, workouts, and potential transactions, including bank acquisitions. In addition, Jason conducts internal investigations arising from inquiries by the DOJ (Department of Justice), CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission), SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), and CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau), including investigations for clearinghouses and exchanges.
Jason is a member of Columbia Law School's Board of Visitors, the board of directors of the Columbia Law School Association, and the Advisory Board of Legal Outreach.
Jason leads the Business Development Committee for Jones Day’s New York Office.
Outside of the law, Jason serves as a trustee for the Count Basie Center for the Arts and a director for the Mid-Hudson Valley Camp, which offers summer camp experiences to children with cancer and various special needs, as well as children from economically-challenged communities.
Experience
The following represents experience acquired prior to joining Jones Day.
Capital Markets, Structured Finance, and Complex Contractual Disputes
Represented a monoline insurer in the chapter 11 bankruptcy of ResCap and its affiliates, after representing the insurer in a four-year civil litigation against a ResCap affiliate to recover billions of dollars in losses arising out of financial guarantee insurance policies that the client provided in connection with several RMBS transactions.
Represented an international banking institution in a civil action seeking to recover $700 million in losses arising out of a warehouse financing facility, which was brought against the hedge fund sponsor of a contemplated CDO transaction.
Represented a U.S. financial institution in connection with swap transactions and a collateral agreement regarding litigation and motion practice in the chapter 9 bankruptcy of the City of Detroit.
Represented a U.S. financial institution in connection with a dispute arising from trading done pursuant to an energy management agreement.
Represented a German asset manager and a French financial institution in their efforts to enforce rights and remedies arising from their respective municipal GIC portfolios.
Represented a German banking institution in its successful defense of federal antitrust claims predicated on its short selling practices.
Represented a German banking institution in civil litigation arising out of a state housing agency's breach of its obligations under the terms of a municipal GIC.
Represented a bondholder in a civil action brought to enjoin an issuer from redeeming bonds and selling a power generation facility that served as the underlying collateral for the bonds at issue.
Criminal, Regulatory, and Internal Investigations
Played a key role in the white-collar criminal defense and trial of a former CEO charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly committing securities fraud through a finite reinsurance transaction.
Led an internal investigation for an international banking institution regarding the propriety of various transactions involving certain senior officers of the bank.
Conducted an internal inquiry as part of a team advising a financial institution regarding certain structured products that it markets to retail and institutional investors.
Led an investigation for a futures and options exchange related to the futures and options trading of one of its members, which was the subject of a parallel investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Played lead role in an internal investigation for an international banking institution in connection with inquiries by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the CFTC, the New York State Attorney General's Office, and the NASD into the use of swaps to finance mutual fund market timing trades, as well as allegations of late trading.
Played a lead supervisory role in connection with internal investigations and compliance reviews conducted for an oil services company investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Counseled individuals involved in the U.S. Attorney's Office's investigations concerning back-dated stock options.
Represented a coffee futures broker accused of improper trading practices by the CFTC.
Counseled a senior insurance executive involved in the New York State Attorney General's Office's investigation into allegations of bid-rigging in the insurance industry.
Represented an individual targeted by the SEC for his role in clearing mutual fund transactions.
Counseled the former CEO of a retail chain accused of securities fraud arising out of his company's accounting practices.
Commodity Futures Markets
Played an integral role in an exchange's successful defense of claims brought under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) against the exchange and its clearinghouse arising out of the collapse of a futures commission merchant.
Advised an exchange in connection with, among other things, an investigation of various member disputes arising out of trading in its futures and options markets for sugar and the fallout from Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.
Represented an exchange in connection with litigation brought by parties seeking to become delivery points for the exchange's cotton futures contracts.
Played a lead role in a major copper merchant's successful defense of a CFTC enforcement proceeding alleging a conspiracy with Sumitomo to manipulate copper futures prices on the LME and COMEX. Represented the same copper merchant and its senior executives in connection with various civil actions brought under federal and state antitrust laws, including one action that was abandoned by the plaintiff after a 10-day evidentiary hearing concerning a former CFTC attorney's alleged misappropriation of confidential law enforcement information.
- Columbia University (J.D. 1999); New York University (B.A. with honors 1996)
- New York; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and District of Columbia Circuits; and U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and Eastern District of Michigan
Northeast Trailblazer, American Lawyer (2021)