(Nashville, TN/April 15, 2010) Gary M. Brown, attorney with Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC, is assisting the United States Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI) in its investigation of the causes and consequences of the recent financial crisis.  The Subcommittee’s first hearing, "Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of High Risk Home Loans," took place on April 13.  Additional hearings on other causes or aspects of the financial crisis will take place during the upcoming weeks.

Mr. Brown was asked by PSI Chairman Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) to provide Subcommittee members and staff with legal advice and analysis regarding securities laws and regulations in support of the investigation.  He also is expected to provide comment and advice on certain aspects of the financial reform bill introduced in the Senate as it relates to various proposed amendments to the federal securities laws.  Mr. Brown will be on a brief leave of absence from the Firm while he is serving in this role for the Senate.

This is the third time that Mr. Brown has been called upon to lend his experience and insights to the PSI, which is a subcommittee of the United States Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. In 2006, he provided testimony on offshore tax havens and tax shelters and how they were used to circumvent compliance with U.S. securities laws. Earlier, during 2002, he served as Special Counsel (Minority) to that committee in its investigation into the collapse of Enron Corp. During that time he also provided advice on aspects of what would become the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 while the Senate debated the legislation.

A shareholder in Baker Donelson's Nashville office, Mr. Brown has counseled boards of directors of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. He has extensive experience in SEC and stock exchange regulatory compliance and corporate governance, as well as accounting, corporate investigation, public disclosure and investor relations issues. He is the author of the Practising Law Institute's treatise Soderquist on the Securities Laws (formerly Understanding the Securities Laws) and serves as general counsel to the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association, the world's largest organization of ethics and compliance professionals.  He also has lectured widely on securities and corporate governance matters as well as Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.  Mr. Brown has been recognized as a leading attorney in the areas of securities law an corporate governance and compliance by renowned publications such as Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and The Best Lawyers in America.