Joseph V. Del Raso, Esq. is a partner in the Commercial Department of Pepper Hamilton LLP. He is a member of Pepper Hamilton’s Executive Committee. Mr. Del Raso started his career at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an attorney-advisor in the Division of Investment Management. He represents financial firms including international investment management companies, banks and securities firms. He also represents clients in telecommunications, construction and manufacturing businesses. He advises clients on the development of new or innovative securities products that are regulated by the Investment Company Act and works closely with the SEC, state securities regulators, and federal and state banking regulatory authorities that are primarily responsible for the oversight of collectively managed investment vehicles.

He served as a court appointed receiver, at the request of the SEC, for a large operating company that was ultimately liquidated because of numerous violations of the federal securities laws perpetrated by prior management. In March 2002, Mr. Del Raso was the only lawyer in private practice invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee about H.R. 3763, the Corporate and Auditing Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency Act of 2002. In July 2004, he was invited to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on the two-year anniversary of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. In 2007, Mr. Del Raso was appointed by President George W. Bush to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Mr. Del Raso lectures frequently and has organized several business conferences abroad, especially in Italy. He is the founding co-editor-in-chief of the Villanova Journal of Law and Investment Management and the author of “Securities Investment Partnerships,” published by the CPA Journal (September 1993).

Mr. Del Raso sits on the boards of publicly held and private corporations. He is a member of the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including the National Italian American Foundation and the American University of Rome (chairman of the board of trustees). He also is a member and vice chair of the board of consultors of the Villanova University School of Law and co-chair of the Villanova Business School Marketing Public Policy Institute. Mr. Del Raso is the Treasurer of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. In June 2005, he was conferred the Order of Merit, honorary knighthood, by the Republic of Italy.

Mr. Del Raso is a 1974 graduate of the Villanova University School of Commerce and Finance and a 1983 graduate of the Villanova University School of Law. He is a member of the Pennsylvania and Florida bars.