Rita M. Molesworth is a partner in the Corporate & Financial Services Department and the Asset Management Department. Rita co-chairs the Firm’s Financial Institutions/Regulatory Practice Group and is a member of the Capital Markets Practice Group. Rita is active in advising clients on the implementation of the Dodd Frank Act and has substantial experience with the Commodity Exchange Act and U.S. securities laws applicable to hedge funds.
Rita has significant prior experience in the futures industry having worked at the National Futures Association as well as with energy trading companies on the trading floor of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Rita is a member (and immediate past Chair) of the ABA's Derivatives and Futures Law Committee. She is a member of the New York City Bar's Committee on Futures and Derivatives Regulation and served as its Chair from 2003 to 2006 and its Secretary from 1997 to 2003. Additionally, Rita is a past member of the New York City Bar’s Private Investment Funds and Energy Committees.
In 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission appointed Rita as an Independent Compliance Monitor in connection with settlements between those agencies and the Bank of Nova Scotia.
Rita has served on the Executive Committee of the Law & Compliance Division of the Futures Industry Association, is a member of the Board of Editors of the Futures and Derivatives Law Report and a member of the Managed Funds Association’s CTA/CPO Forum and its Outside Counsel Forum. She publishes articles and is a regular speaker on educational panels with respect to derivatives and investment management issues. Rita has also taught a course on Derivatives Law and Regulation at Columbia Law School.