Salvatore Faia, Esq., CPA, CFE
Salvatore Faia, Esq., CPA, CFE
Mr. Salvatore Faia has extensive experience with ETFs, Mutual Funds, Hedge Funds, Investment Advisers, Broker Dealers, Business Development Companies and the Investment Management Industry. In addition to being an experienced Investment Company Act of 1940 Act and Advisers Act attorney, he is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds FINRA Securities Licenses, including the Series 7 (General Securities Representative), Series 24 (Securities Principal) and Series 63 (Uniform Securities Agent). Salvatore is AICPA Certified in International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS).
Salvatore is a Member of the ICI’s Chief Compliance Officer Committee.
Salvatore has worked on Funds, Advisers, and Broker Dealers from inception to launch, to successful marketing. He has built Compliance Programs from the ground up, and has often worked with Regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and FINRA. He has a wealth of practical and educational experience. He participated in the SEC Break Point Task Force, and the SEC Omnibus Accounting Task Force.
Salvatore received his Law Degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he graduated with Order of Coif Honors, and has his Undergraduate Degree in Accounting and Finance, with summa cum laude Honors from LaSalle University. He is admitted to practice law in various jurisdictions and holds an active CPA license. Salvatore is known as a leader in the Compliance and Investment Management Industry.
After his first year at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Salvatore was selected to clerk for Judge James J. Hunter, III, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Judge Hunter was a feeder Judge for U.S. Supreme Court Law Clerks. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, Salvatore clerked for Federal District Judge Donald W. Van Artsdalen, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Following his Clerkship, Salvatore joined an American Lawyer 100 Law Firm, and represented PricewaterhouseCoopers in Federal Securities Litigation, including Litigation under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Securities Act of 1933, and Federal Securities Class Actions and State Class Actions. Salvatore successfully represented PwC in numerous actions, including In Re Cascade International Securities Litigation, 840 F. Supp. 1558 (S.D. Fla. 1995); Ziemba v. Cascade Int’l. Inc., 256 F. 3d 1194 (11th Cir. 2001).
On behalf of PwC, Salvatore litigated what became then precedent-setting legal arguments, and prevailed in the District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The United States Supreme Court let the Eleventh Circuit ruling stand, and the case has been cited over 300 times by other Courts.
In 1995, Salvatore represented Crown Cork & Seal in its acquisition of CarnaudMetalbox. Crown, already the world’s largest packaging manufacturer, acquired Europe’s largest packaging manufacturer. Salvatore spent a month in Brussels, Belgium representing Crown before the European Commission. The representation successfully concluded with a trial before the European Commission in Brussels, and was then the second largest deal that was ever approved by the European Commission.
Salvatore represented Depositors in the Tobias Knoblauch Bank Failure Litigation. In Tobias Knoblauch, Depositors were deprived of their Bank Deposit Accounts after the Bank was subject to action by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking. Salvatore prevailed for the Depositor Clients, and those Deposits were returned to the Depositors, and Depositors’ Counsel obtained Attorney’s Fees as a result of the Litigation.
In 1999, Salvatore represented Unisys Corporation in litigation brought in the United States by the largest bank in the Czech Republic. The case required numerous dispositions, many of which took place in Prague. The action was successfully settled on behalf of Unisys before trial.
He was previously a Partner at an AM 100 Law Firm. He also has served as Chief Legal Counsel for an Investment Adviser and Broker/Dealer.
After leaving private practice, Salvatore became Chief Legal Officer for a Federally Registered Investment Adviser and Broker Dealer, and thereafter founded Vigilant Compliance on August 15, 2004.