Gavin Fearey Image

Gavin Fearey

Of Counsel

Gavin Fearey is a member of Winstead's Corporate, Securities/Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group and the firm’s Investment Management & Private Funds Industry Group.

Over the past 5 years, Gavin has counseled investment managers, public companies, bitcoin 'hodlers', bitcoin custody and infrastructure providers, digital asset platforms and other businesses active in the cryptocurrency space or exploring blockchain opportunities such as decentralized finance (DeFi) or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He is a frequent speaker on U.S. regulatory considerations for investment in bitcoin or other digital assets. 

Gavin also counsels private investment fund managers and entrepreneurs in structuring transactions and navigating compliance issues related to the Commodity Exchange Act and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. He brings more than 22 years of corporate, investment funds and regulatory compliance experience.

Gavin has extensive experience in launching and advising investment managers on commodity pools, hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, funds of funds and other investment vehicles. He regularly counsels managers on corporate, disclosure and regulatory issues.

Serving as an in-house counsel in Texas, Gavin advised on securities and commodities law issues relating to managed accounts and the private offering of managed futures funds. He developed a deep understanding of compliance issues for commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTAs) trading in numerous currency, commodity futures and other derivative markets.

Gavin is the co-author of Winstead's Investment Insights Blog.

Experience

Investment managers and private funds

  • Formation of hedge funds, commodity pools, multi-strategy funds, and other private investment funds.
  • Counsel to emerging and established fund managers operating commodity pools.
  • Representation of investment advisers, wealth managers, and hedge fund managers on disclosures, transactions, and regulatory compliance practices and procedures.
  • Counsel to commodity pool operators (CPOs) and commodity trading advisors (CTA) registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and members of National Futures Association (NFA).
  • Regulatory compliance for CPO and investment manager with over $1 billion in endowment-linked AUM.
  • Counsel to family foundation for review and negotiation of proposed investments.

Bitcoin and digital assets

  • Advise bitcoin 'hodlers' and infrastructure providers on fund formations, business transactions, privacy considerations, and family office planning.
  • Formation of private investment fund focused on the purchase of USD loans collateralized with bitcoin.
  • Fund formation and disclosures for digital asset funds with focus on decentralized finance (DeFi) and staking.
  • Advise university athletics program, professional sports team and collectibles platform on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
  • Subject matter counsel for state regulatory work in representation of large digital asset trading platform.
  • Counsel to public company on limited allocation of treasury and reserve assets to digital assets.