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Maria I. Aguilar-Rocha

Associate

Washington, D.C.
T: +1 202.753.3816 F: +1 202.753.3838 maguilarrocha@lowenstein.com
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Maria I. Aguilar-Rocha counsels financial technology companies and related entities on complex securities, derivatives, and cryptocurrency issues, leveraging her deep knowledge of the Commodity Exchange Act, the Securities and Securities Exchange Acts, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules and regulations, and National Futures Association (NFA) and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules to provide clients with tailored solutions to their most challenging legal questions.

In her recent role as Senior Counsel to a CFTC Commissioner, Maria provided critical advice on registration applications from both traditional financial market and innovative financial technology firms, rulemakings concerning both traditional product and emerging digital asset markets, and an array of enforcement actions. At the CFTC, Maria also served as Special Counsel in the Market Participants Division (MPD), where she drafted rulemakings on financial requirements applicable to derivatives market intermediaries, including futures commission merchants, introducing brokers, swap dealers, major swap participants, retail foreign exchange dealers, commodity pool operators, and commodity trading advisors. She also advised on a broad range of issues relating to customer protections, custody and separate account frameworks, financial reporting, capital and margin obligations, registration requirements, and clearing and contract market rules, among others.

Maria’s previous experience also includes practicing at two international law firms, where she advised multinational companies on financial and environmental compliance issues; several years at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division, Fraud Section, Securities and Financial Fraud Unit, where she worked on large-scale, high-profile investigations and prosecutions of financial firms; and clerking for a federal judge at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where she handled complex securities class actions, commercial disputes, and other business matters.

Education

  • Georgetown University Law Center (LL.M. 2022), with distinction; Dean’s List; Public Interest Honors; Diversity Committee chair, articles advisor, notes advisor, Georgetown Journal of International Law; editor, Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives

    Georgetown University Law Center (J.D. 2015); Dean’s List; Public Interest Honors; Alan J. Goldstein Memorial Award

    University of California, Los Angeles (B.A. 2011), cum laude; Dean’s List; College Honors; Phi Beta Kappa; Pi Sigma Alpha

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
    • Business Law Section – Derivatives and Futures Law
    • Business Law Section – Federal Regulation of Securities
    • Business Law Section – State Regulation of Securities
    • Business Law Section – Business Financing
    • Business Law Section Leadership Academy
  • Georgetown University Law Center, Institute of International Economic Law

Admissions

  • New York
  • District of Columbia
  • California
  • U.S. Supreme Court