Cheryl Isaac focuses her practice on derivatives and commodities law across several industries, and advises a diverse range of derivatives market participants – including financial institutions, derivatives exchanges (including prediction markets), clearinghouses, energy and commodity traders, corporate hedgers, and asset managers – on an array of legal and regulatory matters under the Commodity Exchange Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and related Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulations. She works with clients to develop proactive and risk-based compliance programs and advocates on behalf of clients for sensible, principles-based regulations.
Cheryl is a trusted advisor to traditional derivatives market participants as well as those with innovative and unprecedented business models. She counsels clients on novel financial products with evolving regulatory frameworks, including digital assets, decentralized finance (DeFi), and event contracts, and she has significant experience negotiating bespoke derivatives transactions in a variety of asset classes (interest rates, FX, digital assets, and commodities). Cheryl also advises clients on transactions in security-based swaps and applicable U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations.
Before joining Alston & Bird, Cheryl represented clients at other U.S. and international law firms in interest rate swaps and other derivatives products, venture debt financings, digital asset transactions, and compliance issues related to derivatives laws and regulations. Cheryl also has experience with asset management and investment funds, capital markets, energy finance, and financial services policy.