SEC names Kurt Gottschall director of Denver office

The Securities and Exchange Commission named Kurt L. Gottschall director of the Denver regional office.

Gottschall began working in the Division of Enforcement at the Denver office in 2000 as a staff attorney before becoming a branch chief in 2003 and an assistant regional director in 2010. From 2012 to 2016, he was a supervisor in the Asset Management Unit, which focuses on misconduct by investment advisers and investment companies. In 2016, he was named associate regional director for enforcement at the Denver office.

As director of the Denver regional office, Gottschall will lead a staff of more than 100 enforcement attorneys, accountants, investigators, and compliance examiners involved in the investigation and prosecution of enforcement actions and the performance of compliance inspections in the Denver region.

“I am honored and excited by the opportunity to lead the Denver Regional Office,” Gottschall said in a statement. “In serving in this office for almost two decades, I have seen firsthand the dedication and talent of the Denver staff. I look forward to continuing our work to protect investors and maintain fair and orderly markets.”

During his career with the SEC, Gottschall has investigated or supervised dozens of enforcement matters involving a variety of securities law violations, including charges against:

• A Boulder, Colo.-based biopharmaceutical company, its CEO, and its former CFO for misleading investors about the company’s developmental lung cancer drug;
• The Dow Chemical Company for inadequate perquisite disclosures;
• A Maryland-based biotech company and four former top executives for prioritizing revenue growth over lawful accounting and misleading investors in the process;
• SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and its former CEO and vice president of communications for misleading investors about the impact the documentary film “Blackfish” had on the company’s reputation and business; and
• A Salt Lake City-based brokerage firm for allegedly failing to file required SARs and omitting material red flags or other suspicious information from thousands of its SAR filings.

Before joining the SEC staff, Gottschall worked as a litigation associate at Sherman & Howard L.L.C. in Denver and Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton L.L.P. in Los Angeles. Gottschall earned his law degree with honors from the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in 1995 and his bachelor’s degree in economics and government with honors from Claremont McKenna College in 1992.