Jim Falvey

Jim Falvey is a Senior Compliance Consultant at Bristal Lane, where he specializes in securities, compliance consulting, auditing, and regulatory testing for SEC-regulated clients. With extensive experience in financial markets, Jim advises financial services firms on a wide array of compliance, regulatory, and legal issues.

Prior to joining Bristal Lane, Jim served as General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Chief Regulatory Officer for ElectronX, overseeing regulatory strategy and compliance in pursuit of Designated Contract Market (DCM) and Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) status with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Jim’s career also includes roles as the inaugural General Counsel for IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), General Counsel and Chief Regulatory Officer at EMX (a crypto and traditional derivatives exchange startup), and General Counsel at RJ O’Brien (a leading Futures Commission Merchant). Additionally, he held senior compliance and advisory positions at firms including EurexUS, Ocean Tomo, Green Key Technologies, and Bovill Americas, emphasizing compliance, financial technology, and regulatory frameworks.

His extensive legal and regulatory background is complemented by his active writing and publishing portfolio. Jim has contributed numerous articles addressing compliance, regulatory matters, market structure, and financial issues to respected publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle, the Detroit News, and the John Lothian Newsletter, as well as prominent industry platforms like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Green Key Markets. 

In connection with his writing, Jim is sought out as a speaker on, among other things, financial regulatory and market issues. He has spoken and presented at conferences throughout the world, including the United States, Mexico, as well as Europe.

Jim is also dedicated to pro bono criminal defense work, primarily focused on federal appellate cases, and has argued before the 1st, 7th, 8th and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. He recently represented a petitioner in a 4-day habeas corpus hearing with over 20 witnesses before the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Indiana (Indianapolis).

Prior to working in the financial services/markets world, Jim worked as a Legislative Assistant for a U.S. Congressman for three years in Washington, D.C. He also served in a prestigious position as a Law Clerk with a U.S. District Court Judge in Michigan.

Jim earned his BA in Government from the University of Notre Dame, his JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. When he’s not thinking about or working on financial compliance, you’ll probably find Jim playing music on trumpet or electric bass, or playing sports (including tennis, golf, and basketball).