Jessica L. Reece
Partner
Jessica Reece is a partner in the asset management group and a member of Ropes & Gray’s broker-dealer team. She focuses her practice on representing registered investment companies, their independent trustees, and investment advisers on regulatory, transactional and compliance matters.
Jessica regularly advises clients regarding the development, registration and operation of fund products, including the preparation and review of disclosure in offering documents, shareholder communications and advertising materials. She also provides ongoing representation of registered funds' boards of trustees. Jessica has experience preparing exemptive applications, no-action requests, and responses to regulatory inquiries and investigations. She also advises clients on affiliated and unaffiliated fund reorganizations, as well as the creation and implementation of compliance programs for investment advisers and investment companies.
Beyond traditional registered funds work, Jessica has deep knowledge of ETFs, BDCs, REITs, data security compliance, Advisers Act compliance and FINRA regulation. She regularly advises broker-dealers operating in the registered funds arena on key regulatory and securities law issues, including SEC registration and FINRA membership, Exchange Act and FINRA Rule compliance, regulatory inspections, and FINRA and SEC examinations and enforcement matters.
Committed to serving the community, Jessica provides pro bono assistance to Project Validate and to the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance’s voting rights working group.
Experience
Representative clients include the following:
- AMG Pantheon and the AMG Pantheon Funds
- Colchester Partners
- Datum One Series Trust and their Independent Trustees
- Eaton Vance Funds
- GlobalX Management Investment Company
- iCapital Network
- Natixis Funds and ETFs
- The Independent Trustees of the Prudential Mutual Funds (Insurance)
- The Independent Trustees of the VanEck Vectors ETF Trust
- Voya Funds mutual fund and closed-end fund complex
Publications
- Quoted, “Advisor’s Text Policies a Risk Factor for Boards,” BoardIQ (March 21, 2023)
- Quoted, “Findra encourages brokers to increase scrutiny, controls when using finfluencers,” Investment News (March 1, 2023)
- Quoted, “SEC Exams to Probe Boards’ Contract Renewal Processes,” BoardIQ (February 21, 2023)
- Quoted, “SEC Puts Spotlight on Fund Boards in 2023 Exam Priorities,” BoardIQ (February 14, 2023)
- Quoted, “SEC Targets 12-b-1 Fees in Fund-to-ETF Conversions,” Ignites (February 13, 2023)
- Author, "Unmasking John Doe: Setting a Standard for Discovery in Anonymous Internet Defamation Cases," 95 Virginia Law Review 389 (2009)
Presentations
- Speaker, “Impacts of the Russia/Ukraine Conflict on ETFs,” Ropes & Gray Podcast (May 13, 2022)
- Speaker, “Registered Funds and Consumer Data: The California Consumer Privacy Act and Beyond,” Ropes & Gray Webinar (January 28, 2020)
Education
- JD, University of Virginia School of Law, 2008; Virginia Law Review ; Symposium Editor, Journal of Law and Politics
- BA (Political Science and Cultural Anthropology), Duke University, 2005
Admissions / Qualifications
Qualifications
- District of Columbia, 2010
- Massachusetts, 2008