M. Ridgway Barker

Talks

• 'Cryptocurrency & the Blockchain Explained: A Panel Discussion with Attorneys: Joseph Bambara, Ridge Barker, Charles Kolstad,' New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) Amicus Curiae Podcast - June 10, 2023, speaker

• 'FTX Was a Bump in the Road: Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets are Here to Stay,' New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) CLE Webinar - April 19, 2023, speaker

• 'GL Crypto Quarterly Meeting - The Metaverse and The Law,' New York County Law Association - March 24, 2022, speaker

• 'SPAC IPOs - Investing in SPACs,' UBS webinar - June 4, 2021, speaker

• 'Withers talks: cryptocurrency | Ep 5 - The rise of decentralized finance (DeFi),' Withers webinar- April 8, 2021, speaker

• 'Legal issues faced by founders, entrepreneurs, executives and wealthy family members amid the coronavirus outbreak,' Withers podcast, April 17, 2020, speaker

• 'The Ever-Complex World of ICOs Regulations: How to Maximize Opportunities & Mitigate Risks,' The Knowledge Group, Webinar, November 5, 2019

• 'Initial Coin Offering (ICO) Regulation in 2019: Trends, Developments, and What Lies Ahead,' The Knowledge Group, Webinar, August 6, 2019

• 'Transitioning from blank check to operating company,' SPAC Conference 2018, New York, NY, February 15, 2018

• 'M&A stories: practical guidance (enjoyably digested),' DealLawyers.com, Webinar, November 15, 2017

• 'Decoding the impacts and implications of JOBS Act on private companies,' The Knowledge Group, Webinar, November 06, 2017

• 'Recent developments at the new SEC', Don't Get Burned Proxy Seminar, New York, NY, June 17, 2009

• 'Understanding the listing options: OTC, AIM, Amex, NYSE, Euronext, & NASDAQ', DealFlow Media's The SPAC Conference, New York, NY, June 4, 2008.

• Belmont Partner's 2nd Annual Alternative Public Strategies Conference, New York, NY, May 8, 2008

• 'SPACs', Belmont Partners Alternative Public Strategies Conference, Washington, DC, June 1, 2007

• 'Hot securities law issues for small businesses', ABA Section of Business Law Spring Meeting, Washington, DC, February 1, 2007, panelist

• 'Real time disclosure: New form 8-K requirements', Westchester/Fairfield Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association, September 2004

• 'Guidelines for companies considering delisting', online interview posted in March 2004 at www.thecorporatecounsel.net

• 'Risk management for the 21st Century; Issues for the executive suite', UBS PaineWebber: CEO/CFO Symposium, April 2003

• 'Equity compensation', __ American Society of Corporate Secretaries, December 2002

• 'Doing the boardwalk', Potomac Officers Club, March 2002

• 'Employer securities in executive compensation', Westchester/Fairfield Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association, October 2002

External publications

• 'Sam Bankman-Fried’s Red Flags Were Seen in All Corners of His Empire,' Bloomberg - November 30, 2022, quoted
• 'Lawmakers Trip Over Privacy and Security of Digital Dollar,' Roll Call - October 25, 2022, quoted

• 'Can Congress buy in to digital dollar without legislation?' Roll Call - October 18, 2022, quoted

• ‘2022 - The year of regulation of digital assets,' - April 11, 2022, co-author

• 'Bitcoin ETFs Elbow Way into SEC's 'Complex' ETP Probe,' Ignites - October 25, 2021, quoted

• 'SEC Probes Exchange-Traded Products for Investor Risks,' Law360 - October 5, 2021, quoted

• 'The U.S. Infrastructure Bill and Cryptocurrency Regulation,' Withers Insight - September 14, 2021

• 'Staking a profit with Decentralized Finance,' Withers Insight - August 16, 2021

• 'Explainer: How Robinhood's public listing ups the regulatory stakes,' Reuters - July 28, 2021, quoted

• 'DeFi Lending: High Interest and Maybe High Risk,' Withers Insight - July 26, 2021

• 'On the Rise: Distributed Autonomous Organizations ("DAOs"),' Withers Insight - July 6, 2021

• 'Non Fungible Tokens: Legal issues to be considered,' Withers Insight - June 7, 2021

• 'New SPAC scrutiny demands solid forecasts,' CFO Dive - April 20, 2021, quoted

• 'SEC's Latest Guidance Likely To Further Slow SPAC Market,' Law360 - April 14, 2021, quoted

• 'Yellen convenes SEC, CFTC and Fed leaders on Robinhood question,' Cointelegraph - February 3, 2021, quoted

• 'Year in review: Cryptocurrency and digital assets in 2020,' Withers Insight - December 30, 2020, author

• 'Spotlight on SPACs: A Price Discovery Tool,' Mergermarket - December 16, 2020, quoted

• 'ISDA using Digital Asset clearing and DLT technical advances and international legal issues,' Withers Insight - December 4, 2020, co-author

• 'Crypto Crime Enforcement Trends: The US Department of Justice steps up,' Withers Insight - October 30, 2020, co-author

• 'ISDA and Digital Asset Launch a CDM Clearing Pilot Using DAML with Distributed Ledger Technology,' Withers Insight - October 12, 2020, co-author

• 'Noteworthy recent SEC rule changes,' Withers Insight - September 8, 2020, co-author

• 'Recent Enforcement of Data Breach and Cybersecurity Violations: Is Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Storage the Answer?' Withers Insight - August 21, 2020, co-author

• 'Does the U.S. need to have a digital dollar?' Withers Insight - July 15, co-author

• 'Covid-19 creates numerous use cases for the Internet of Things, but are they legal?' Withers Insight - July 14, 2020, co-author

• 'HSR alert ,' Withers Insight - July 1, 2020, author

• 'A future with digital assets and distributed ledger technology,' Withers Insight - July 1, 2020, co-author

• 'The SBRA: A powerful small business remedy for post-COVID recovery,' Withers Insight - June 11, 2020, co-author

• 'Data Privacy Amid COVID-19: Blockchain to the Rescue!' Withers Insight - May 14, 2020, co-author

• ' 'Life and law go on': How attorneys are working through New York City's lockdown,' Spear's - May 12, 2020, quoted

• 'SEC transaction halt highlights unique issues for issuers and investors alike,' Withers Insight - April 24, 2020, co-author

• 'Bank too busy? Business too small? SBA approves Fintech company as Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) lender,' Withers Insight - April 14, 2020, author

• 'Leading to, and Leaning into, the “New Normal",' CEOWORLD Magazine - April 13, 2020, co-author

• 'Coronavirus and cybersecurity in the US,' Withers Insight - March 13, 2020, author

• 'Coronavirus, oil shock and board actions,' Withers Insight - March 12, 2020, author

• 'Fintech Regulation To Watch In 2020,' Law360, January 1, 2020, quoted

• 'SEC halts Telegram Inc.'s digital token offering,' Withers Article, October 14, 2019, co-author

• 'SEC Issues New Guidance on Proxy Firm Conflicts, Transparency,' Agenda, August 21, 2019, quoted

• 'SEC's New Proxy Voting Guidance Gets Mixed Reviews,' ThinkAdvisor, August 21, 2019, quoted

• 'SEC Guidance Could Subject Proxy Firms to Closer Scrutiny,' Law360, August 21, 2019, quoted

• 'Why US regulators are struggling to step up to regulate Facebook's Libra,' Yahoo! Finance, July 19, 2019, quoted

• 'RPT-Musk's U-turn on Tesla deal could intensify his legal, regulatory woes,' Reuters, August 26, 2018, quoted

• 'Why Merrill Lynch's Bitcoin ban is likely to continue,' Financial Advisor IQ, August 13, 2018, quoted

• 'SEC Again Rejects Bitcoin ETF Proposed by Winklevoss Twins,' New York Law Journal, July 27, 2018, quoted

• 'Advisers trying to hide high-fee mutual fund share classes won't fool SEC,' InvestmentNews, February 13, 2018, quoted

• 'Checklist of routine annual and other activities to be completed by NASDAQ-listed companies,' Withers article, January 18, 2018, co-author

• 'Checklist of routine annual and other activities to be completed by NYSE American-listed companies,' Withers article, January 18, 2018, co-author

• 'Checklist of routine annual and other activities to be completed by voluntary filers,' Withers article, December 27, 2017, co-author

• 'Small traders should avoid Bitcoin bourses,' Barron's, December 23, 2017, quoted

• 'DOJ settlement approaching, correspondence reveals,' Event Driven, December 12, 2017, quoted

• 'What investors need to know about the tax bill,' Barron's, November 4, 2017, quoted

• 'Lessons learned from a highly successful proxy contest defense', Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation, December 18, 2015

• 'Compliance and policies in light of Dodd-Frank', Aspatore Books' Inside the Minds: SEC Compliance Best Practices, June 2012

• 'The board's evolving role in corporate compliance', Corporate Compliance Insights, April 25. 2012, co-author

• 'Chinese reverse merger cos. must audit by the rules', Law360, May 13, 2011, co-author

• 'Analysis: Huawei divests assets and foregoes 3Leaf systems acquisition based on CFIUS review', Thomson Reuters Complinet, May 3, 2011, co-author

• 'SPACs and NASDAQ get a boost from the SEC', The M&A Journal, March 25, 2011, co-author

• 'NASDAQ could bring back the SPAC', SNL Financial, March 2, 2011, co-author

• 'Financial and economic crisis - Law firms: Liquidity issues for plan fiduciaries relating to securities lending or stable value funds', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, July 2009, co-author

• 'Exchanges for listing SPACs - A shifting landscape', The M&A Journal, January 23, 2009, co-author

• 'Exchanges for listing SPACs - A shifting landscape', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, January 2009, co-author

• 'PLC - recent Delaware decisions affecting advanced notice by-laws', Practical Law Company (PLC), December 4, 2008, co-author

• 'SPACs and how they grew', The M&A Journal, October 29, 2008

• 'Recent Delaware decisions affecting advanced notice by-laws', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, July 2008

• 'SPACs - Continuing to grow and evolve', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, June 2007, co-author

• 'Pink sheets - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, April 2007, co-author

• 'Pink sheets - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, March 2007, co-author

• 'An overview of the NYSE Arca', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, February 2007, co-author

• 'SPACs: A focus on China', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, December 2006, co-author

• 'Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations: Specs to consider when structuring your SPAC - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, September 2006, co-author

• 'Special Purpose Acquisition Corporations: Specs to consider when structuring your SPAC - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, August 2006, co-author

• 'The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on not-for-profit companies - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, March 2006, co-author

• 'The impact of Sarbanes-Oxley on not-for-profit companies - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, February 2006, co-author

• 'US corporate governance and foreign private issuers: the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and beyond', Financier Worldwide, December 2005, co-author

• 'U.S. securities issues in spin-offs and subsidiary IPOs - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, December 2005, co-author

• 'U.S. securities issues in spin-offs and subsidiary IPOs - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, November 2005, co-author

• 'Prepare to launch: The IPO market has returned', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, March 2005, co-author

• 'US securities issues in spin-offs and subsidiary IPOs', Executive Carve Outs and Spin-offs Review 2004, A Financier Worldwide Supplement, co-author

• 'Ineffective internal controls: Issues that public companies may face after receiving a negative report - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, November 2004, co-author

• 'Ineffective internal controls: Issues that public companies may face after receiving a negative report - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, October 2004, co-author

• 'New form 8-K disclosures and filing deadlines: A practical guide - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, June 2004, co-author

• 'New form 8-K disclosures and filing deadlines: A practical guide - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, May 2004, co-author

• 'The SEC's recent interpretative guidance as to MD&A Disclosure: Practical advice for companies', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, April 2004, co-author

• 'The Schering-Plough action and regulation FD: The SEC ratchets up the cost of noncompliance', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, December 2003, co-author

• 'Guidelines for companies considering delisting', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, November 2003, co-author

• 'Application to foreign private issuers of Sarbanes Audit Committee listing standards', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, June 2003, co-author

• 'Recent corporate reforms applicable to foreign issuers', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, June 2003, co-author

• 'SEC adopts new rules regarding non-GAAP financial measures and earnings releases', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, April 2003, co-author

• 'Regulation FD: The SEC takes action', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, February 2003, co-author

• 'The Sarbanes-Oxley Act writes a new chapter in executive compensation arrangements - Part II', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, December 2002, co-author

• 'The Sarbanes-Oxley Act writes a new chapter in executive compensation arrangements - Part I', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, November 2002, co-author

• 'Changing roles for the Corporate Audit Committee', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, August 2002, co-author

• 'Be prepared, the IPO market will return', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, March 2002, co-author

• 'SEC enforcement for financial misstatements: Tougher stance against responsible individuals, gentler approach for cooperating corporations', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, January 2002, co-author

• 'Regulation FD one year later: A battle is still being waged', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, November 2001, co-author

• 'Guidelines for companies considering voluntarily delisting from NASDAQ', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, September 2001, co-author

• 'Integration of abandoned offerings: The new safe harbor', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, May 2001, co-author

• 'Electronic voting is finally gaining ground', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, January 2001, co-author

• 'The SEC adopts its first insider trading rules', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, December 2000, co-author

• 'Regulation FD', The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, September 2000, co-author

• The Encyclopedia of Venture Capital, contributing editor.

Admissions

• State of Pennsylvania, 1980

• State of Connecticut, 1985

Education

• Boston University School of Law, J.D.

• Yale University, B.A.

Languages

• English

Memberships

• Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors

Key dates

• Year joined: 2015
• Year became partner: 2015