Overview
Sophia Breggia counsels clients on a range of regulatory, legislative, and enforcement matters in the financial services sector, including those before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Her practice involves advising financial institutions, private fintech companies, and public companies engaged in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space on compliance with federal law and regulation, including in the realms of securities, commodities, anti-money laundering, and economic sanctions, among others. Sophia has experience conducting internal independent investigations, and representing clients in enforcement matters before the Department of Justice (DOJ), the SEC, and the CFTC. Additionally, Sophia has assisted on compliance assessments of large cryptocurrency companies and traditional financial institutions, involving those entities’ anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism, and economic sanctions programs, as well as involving electronic recordkeeping policies.
Sophia is a recent graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as the Executive Online Editor of the Harvard Journal on Legislation and interned with a legislative advocacy focused team at a non-profit legal organization. She also worked as a summer associate at a law firm in Massachusetts and was seconded to a large institutional asset management company, during which time she gained experience assisting with compliance matters in the investment and asset management space.
- Massachusetts
- District of Columbia
- J.D., Harvard Law School, 2022, Executive Online Editor, Harvard Journal on Legislation
- B.A., Boston College, 2017
Areas of Work
Representative Matters
- Drafted assessment reports for prominent cryptocurrency companies regarding their anti-money laundering and economic sanctions programs.
- Represented a group of former cryptocurrency company executives in investigations by federal agencies.
- Assisted clients with drafting proposed amendments to pending and enacted legislation relating to the financial services sector.
- Conducted analyses of complex pending legislation in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space.
- Advise companies engaged in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space on legal and regulatory compliance.
- Advise trade association of independent broker-dealers on regulatory and policy matters.
News & Publications
Client Alerts
AML Program Requirements for Investment Advisers: FinCEN’s Proposed Rulemaking
February 16, 2024
By: Andrew C. Adams, Coy Garrison, Jack R. Hayes, David M. Stetson, Evan T. Abrams, Sophia Breggia, Vito Arethusa
Steptoe Blockchain Blog
What Does the BTC ETP Approval Mean for the SEC’s Regulatory Approach to Crypto?
January 16, 2024
Publications
CFPB As Pay App Watchdog May Invite More Fintech Regs
January 12, 2024
By: Alan Cohn, Andrew Owens, Coy Garrison, Evan T. Abrams, Sophia Breggia, Vito Arethusa
Publications
OFAC Sanctions and Digital Assets: Regulation, Compliance, and Recent Developments
Global Legal Insights: Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Laws and Regulations 2024
November 29, 2023
By: Andrew C. Adams, David M. Stetson, Evan T. Abrams, Sophia Breggia
Client Alerts
Proposed Rule Subjects Digital Payments to CFPB Oversight
November 14, 2023
By: Alan Cohn, Andrew Owens, Coy Garrison, Evan T. Abrams, Sophia Breggia, Vito Arethusa
Publications
Blockchain in the USA: 2022-2023 Developments
Chambers Global Practice Guides Blockchain 2023
July 6, 2023
By: Alan Cohn, Jason M. Weinstein, Coy Garrison, Shawn P. Davisson, Galen Kast, Sophia Breggia