Stanley Fortgang

Stanley Fortgang is a Director at Bates Group where he uses his extensive investment and trading background to consult and provide expert witness testimony. With more than 25 years of experience, his scope of expertise includes all aspects of securities including equities, fixed income, hedge funds, regulatory, compliance, mutual funds, and other financial-related matters. He is based in New York.

After completing his MBA at New York University, Stanley began his career in the financial services industry at First Boston Corporation. He was soon promoted to Vice President. In that capacity he traded Mortgage Backed securities, Interest Rate Products, Municipal Bonds and Corporate Bonds with a concentration on municipalities and governments. Stanley was engaged as a market maker while also assisting in pricing and marketing of new issues in close cooperation with the syndicate desk.

For the next 10 years, Stanley was a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co. During that time, he traded numerous products and developed a proprietary book while also acting as a market-maker for a wide range of institutional clients. After January 1998, he focused exclusively on non-Japan Asian debt including distressed securities. In 2000, Stanley served as a Principal at Knightsbridge Capital Management where he advised in the start up of a global macro hedge fund. He developed the business plan and participated in the initial raising of capital. He also instituted accounting, legal and risk controls. In addition, Stanley set up prime brokerage and clearing operations to assist with the launch of the hedge fund.

Stanley then joined Morgan Stanley in 2001 and was promoted to Managing Director in 2004. While at Morgan Stanley he was a producing manager acting as a market maker for a broad array of securities across asset classes and structures. Initially, he traded Investment Grade, Crossover and High Yield debt instruments (Cash and CDS) with a specialty in Bank, Broker, Finance and Auto sectors while also managing the finance sector team. Stanley was responsible for trading the entire capital structure of corporations including equity, bonds, CDS, convertibles, preferred stock, auction rate securities and bank loans. He assisted in the structuring of CDO's and related product as part of a joint venture between the structured credit and mortgage backed securities groups. In addition, Stanley traded municipal and treasury debt and acted as the liaison to the treasury, mortgage and equity desks and participated in pricing, risk oversight and joint venture trading with those desks.

Before joining Bates Group, Stanley was a Director with LECG and Bates Private Capital Incorporated, a firm providing litigation consulting, financial analysis, market trend research, and expert witness testimony for securities and other financial-related matters.

Prior to joining LECG and Bates Private Capital, Stanley was a Managing Director of Jefferies & Co. In this role, he was a producing risk manager. He traded all parts of the capital structure of corporations including equity, straight debt, convertible bonds, preferred stock, auction rate securities, and bank loans. Stanley also assisted in the management and integration of a newly formed mortgage trading desk and acted as liaison between sectors within fixed income as well as with equities.

In June 2009, Stanley founded Etzion Consulting Group, where he is the Managing Partner. The firm provides consulting services and expert legal opinions for the financial services sector with a specialty in securities sales and trading. Stanley's consulting services focus on product analysis, performance, overview of securities markets, competitive landscapes and efficiencies of operations. His legal expert work is primarily focused on litigation support for disputes and investigations in the financial services sector. Areas of expertise include: all classes of debt securities, equities, futures and options, index trading, credit default swaps, derivatives, CDO's and related products, mortgage backed securities, municipal bonds, auction rate products and structured products. Actual testimonial experience list can be provided where appropriate.