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Michael E. Pastore

Special Counsel

[email protected]

+1.617.239.8427

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Michael focuses his practice on representing banks, financial services, and other companies in litigation and government proceedings involving consumer protection and other laws. He also handles arbitrations and guides clients through government and internal investigations. He represents publicly traded companies in a variety of industries, including retail and manufacturing, as well as internet start-ups.

Michael’s extensive experience with consumer protection laws includes the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), and Massachusetts’ consumer protection law, M.G.L. c. 93A. He represents and defends clients before federal and state agencies: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, and the Massachusetts Securities Division.

Before joining Mintz, Michael was a senior associate in the Boston office of an international law firm, where he represented clients facing alleged violations of federal and state consumer protection laws and in a wide array of regulatory investigations. During a secondment from that firm, he spent three months as a senior counsel for a major bank and managed its portfolio consumer lending, automobile financing, commercial transactions, and securities fraud cases. He also actively participated in a pro bono program for victims of domestic violence.

Earlier, he served as a budget and policy analyst and a legislative aide for then Massachusetts State Representative (and current State Senator) Michael F. Rush.

Experience

  • Successfully defended Citizens Bank against putative class allegations of aiding and abetting fraud and breach of fiduciary in connection with a $100 million Ponzi scheme. The Western District of NY dismissed the complaint, with prejudice.  The dismissal was upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
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viewpoints

In a widely anticipated decision, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously upheld the Massachusetts Fiduciary Duty Rule, which imposes a fiduciary duty standard on Massachusetts broker-dealers.
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On January 10, 2023, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) issued its 2023 Report on FINRA’s Examination and Risk Monitoring Program (the “Report”).

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On October 26, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule and amendments under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Act”) that would add significant guardrails to the common practice of registered investment advisers (RIAs) using third-party service providers (“Proposed Rule”).

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Brokers beware: Reg BI is dormant no longer. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed its first enforcement action alleging violations of Regulation Best Interest” (“Reg BI”), charging Western International Securities Inc. (“Western”) and five of its registered representatives.

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On November 18, 2021, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice “to call attention to an upward trend in environmental crimes and associated illicit financial activity.” This focus on environmental crimes is designed to help address FinCEN’s priorities previously announced on June 30, 2021.
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On October 14, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“ CFPB”) announced a series of organizational changes affecting the Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending Division (SEFL), the result of an organizational review that began in February of this year.
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On September 1, 2020, the Massachusetts Securities Division (“MSD”) began enforcing a new state regulation that holds all broker-dealers and their agents to a fiduciary conduct standard requiring them to “make recommendations and provide investment advice without regard to the financial or any other interest of any party other than the customer”.
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FINRA, through its most recent Regulatory Notice 20-16 , shares certain common practices they have seen taken by member firms to enhance supervision in the remote work environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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News & Press

News Thumbnail Mintz

Financial Services Co-chair Pete Michaels, Of Counsel Michael Pastore, and Associate Edmund Daley co-authored an article published in Law360 which focused on the widely anticipated Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision on the Massachusetts fiduciary duty rule, which imposes a fiduciary duty standard on Massachusetts broker-dealers.

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Recognition & Awards

  • Named to the Massachusetts Super Lawyers Rising Stars list (2017)

  • Boston Magazine Top Lawyers – Employment (2021)

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Involvement

  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, Boston Bar Association
  • Board of Directors, Medfield TV
  • Chair, Warrant Committee, Town of Medfield, Massachusetts
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