In The Man's World of Corporate Finance One Woman Provides The Final Word On Securities Law

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Mar 23, 2016, 10:19 ET

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, March 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

In the March 23, 2016 issue of The Atlantic journalist Margo Epprecht wrote, "Wall Street is a specific culture. It is a specific culture of men. In large banks, hedge funds, and many Wall Street firms, women make up the majority of workers in support roles such as human resources, legal and compliance, administration, and customer service. But men still have a firm grip on the power structure."

Apparently someone forgot to tell Securities Attorney Laura Anthony, founding partner of Legal & Compliance, LLC, a corporate, securities and business transaction law firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida, producer and Host of LawCast ™ the securities law network, and author of SecuritiesLawBlog.com; one of the most widely-read blogs in the small-cap industry.

An article published in The Globe and Mail on February 24, 2016 by journalist Barry Ritholtz titled "Women Still Underrepresented in Finance Sector's Top Jobs" referenced a Morningstar study from 2015 that stated; Less than 10 per cent of all U.S. fund managers are women; women exclusively run about 2 per cent of the industry's assets and open-end funds. By contrast, men exclusively run about 74 per cent of the industry's assets and 78 per cent of funds, with mixed-gender teams accounting for the balance.

The same article disclosed; "That's true across the universe of investing firms, as well as the broad array of companies that make up the S&P 500 index. According to Catalyst, there are now only 20 women chief executives of S&P 500 companies, down from 24 in 2015. CNNMoney notes "only 14.2 per cent of the top five leadership positions" were held by women at these companies. Last year, women made up 17.9 per cent of the directors of Fortune 1000 companies. The number of female certified financial planners appears to have plateaued at about 23 per cent."

These findings are well-researched and documented, and attorney Laura Anthony seems to have bypassed the system by building her own corporate universe.

"I never stopped to think about the gender gap in the corporate finance sector," Attorney Anthony said. "I was too busy working."

Ms. Anthony has been practicing securities law for more than 20 years. In those two decades she has worked with a multitude of Pubco CEO's, corporate finance specialists, entrepreneurs, and dealmakers - the overwhelming majority of which are men.

"If I had to guess I'd say that 98% of the clients I work with are men," attorney Anthony said. "I rarely think about it but occasionally when I'm sitting at a conference room table at a national brokerage firm or public company and realize there are a dozen people and I'm the only woman. With that being said, I don't receive any special treatment and inversely, don't experience any type of condescension. I ply my trade with enthusiasm and innovation and apparently that has created a relatively level playing field for me."

The Author:

Securities attorney Laura Anthony and her experienced legal team provide ongoing corporate counsel to small and mid-size OTC and exchange traded issuers as well as private companies going public on the over-the-counter market, such as the OTCQB and OTCQX or an exchange such as NASDAQ or NYSE MKT. Legal & Compliance, LLC is a comprehensive corporate, securities and business transactions law firm assisting clients in all aspects of commerce, including initial public offerings, reverse mergers, registered public offerings, exempt private offerings, all forms of complex corporate finance transactions, compliance with national exchanges such as the NASDAQ and NYSE MKT and the over-the-counter market trading platforms such as OTCQB and OTCQX, compliance with FINRA and DTC, strategic planning for unique management and ownership issues, and broad-scope legal services. Laura Anthony, Esq. is an approved OTCQX Advisor (DAD/PAL). Laura Anthony, Esq., is also the creator and author of SecuritiesLawBlog.com and the producer and host of LawCast.com, The Securities Law Network.

Contact:
Laura Anthony, Esq.
Founding Partner
Legal & Compliance, LLC
+1-561-514-0936
[email protected]
http://www.LegalAndCompliance.com
http://www.SecuritiesLawBlog.com
http://www.LawCast.com

SOURCE Legal & Compliance, LLC