Cheryl Scarboro, formerly an Associate Director in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement and the first Chief of the SEC’s FCPA Unit, is Of Counsel in the Washington, D.C. office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and a member of the Firm’s Government and Internal Investigations Practice. She represents corporations, financial institutions and individuals in government investigations and other regulatory enforcement proceedings. Cheryl handles sensitive internal investigations on behalf of management, boards, and special committees, and routinely counsels clients on compliance programs, SEC reporting, disclosure and corporate governance requirements.
Selected representations include:
- A telecommunications company in an SEC FCPA investigation;
- Representation of a former employee of a mining company in an action brought by the SEC alleging accounting violations relating to the value of a project in Africa;
- Special Litigation Committee of a Fortune 50 company in an internal investigation related to the Company’s handling of allegations of sexual harassment;
- Various senior executives in connection with SEC/DOJ investigations into potential FCPA violations;
- Large Asian company in connection with SEC investigation of potential FCPA violations;
- Special committee of a large Chinese company in an independent review of allegations of fraud;
- A large technology company in an SEC/DOJ inquiry regarding alleged payments to government officials in various countries; and
- Major mining consortium in South America in connection with the design and implementation of an enhanced anti-corruption program.
Cheryl joined the Firm following a 19-year tenure at the SEC, where she led significant investigations involving a broad variety of subjects, including alleged violations of the FCPA, the Investment Advisers Act, issuer accounting fraud and other disclosure violations, market manipulation, broker-dealer misconduct and insider trading.
As head of the SEC’s FCPA practice, Cheryl played a role in all of the SEC’s recent major FCPA cases and acted as the SEC liaison with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and regulators around the world. Cheryl led the SEC’s investigation of Siemens, A.G., which resulted in an unprecedented $1.6 billion settlement with the SEC, DOJ and German regulators, the largest settlement to date under the FCPA. She also led investigations that resulted in actions against 15 companies and three individuals charged with making illicit payments to the Iraqi government in order to win contracts under the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food Program. In the FCPA investigation of a Luxembourg-based global steel pipe supplier and manufacturer, Cheryl pioneered the SEC’s first use of a deferred prosecution agreement as a means of resolving the investigation in a manner that recognized the entity’s cooperation.
Cheryl held numerous other roles while at the SEC, including serving as an Associate Director in the Division of Enforcement and as counsel to former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt.
Chambers USA Nationwide and Chambers Global recognize Cheryl as a leading individual in FCPA, where sources describe her as a “calm, cool, confident counsel” with an “immense amount of credibility,” “universally unflappable when it comes to high-stakes situations,” and “very smart, measured and even keeled,” also noting that she brings “impressive government experience to her representation of clients facing complex enforcement proceedings and investigations,” and peers describe her as “extremely knowledgeable and a serious player in this space.” She has been recognized as one of the “25 Most Influential Women in Securities Law” by Law360 and one of the “Top 10 Women in Litigation” by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation. Cheryl is consistently listed in the “Top 250 Women in Litigation” by Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation, where market commentators describe her as “an internal investigations luminary” with a “huge place in the FCPA world”, “bring[ing] a wealth of experience to the table.” Cheryl was also recently recognized as part of Corporate Counsel’s “Women, Influence & Power in Law Awards” and named to Global Investigations Review’s “Women in Investigations” and “The Top FCPA Practitioners” 2021 lists, with the profile highlighting that, “few lawyers, if any, can match [Cheryl’s] credentials.” Cheryl was also named to Savoy Magazine’s 2022 and 2018 “Most Influential Black Lawyers” lists. In addition, Cheryl was named to the “Enforcement 40” by the Securities Enforcement Forum, she is consistently recommended by The Legal 500 in white collar, and was named a National and Washington, D.C. “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation in white collar, where she is noted for “continuing the firm’s FCPA flagship work.”
Cheryl regularly speaks at conferences on subjects relating to FCPA and anti-corruption, compliance and enforcement. She is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, and a member of the Board of Visitors of Duke University School of Law.
She earned her J.D. from Duke University School of Law in 1989 and her B.A. from University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1986.