Expert Witness
Barclay T. Leib, principal of Sand Spring Advisors, is available as an expert non-conflicted consultant/expert witness within securities law violation investigations. Mr. Leib is a Certified Fraud Examiner who has previously consulted on cases to a Boston-based law firm, the SEC, and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Leib is registered as an Expert with the Michel-Shaked Group, Thomson-Reuters, IMS Expert Witness Services, GLG, and other groups that source financial sector experts.
Mr. Leib was one of the first people ever to trade an OTC derivative in 1981 at JP Morgan. He helped craft the original documentation for such that subsequently was adopted and amended by ISDA. Mr. Leib was originally most active in precious metals and currency derivatives at J.P. Morgan where, at the time, he became Global Head of Currency and Metals Derivatives Trading as the youngest Vice President in JP Morgan history. Mr. Leib later went on to trade a variety of other derivatives products. These included options on U.S. Treasury Securities, LIBOR-based Caps and Floors, options on a variety of base metals, equity options and convertible securities, as well as a variety of different exotic options. In 1999, he authored a book while at Societe Generale entitled Choose Your Options outlining the use and abuse of trading exotic options within corporate currency hedging programs.
Mr. Leib began his career investigating the Hunt Silver Crisis of 1980 while a Wilson Scholar at Princeton University, and his research was cited within various Congressional and Senate investigations of that period. In 1987, Mr. Leib was asked to serve on the Brady Commission to investigate the causes of the equity market Crash of 1987, but declined such appointment due to other personal commitments. Mr. Leib later investigated and wrote about a major hedge-fund/bank litigation related to the 1998 Russian ruble crisis, and the application of ISDA documentation to the margin exchange requirements of non-deliverable currency forwards. In 2001, Mr. Leib investigated the sudden demise of a large Canadian hedge fund related to fraudulent repo transactions, and wrote about his findings within Derivatives Strategy where he also served as a Contributing Editor for two years.
Continuing his interest in financial fraud, Mr. Leib authored an article for Financial Executive magazine in 2002 entitled "From Innocent Roots Fraud Can Grow Quickly" (see link below).
Mr. Leib gained due diligence and asset allocation expertise within the world of hedge funds starting in 1999, and in 2002 authored a portion of the book Planning for the Affluent (Aspen Press). In addition to his work for Derivatives Strategy and Financial Executive, Mr. Leib went on to contribute a variety of articles on alternative investing and financial markets to Hedgeworld.com, Plan Sponsor, Global Custodian, Treasury and Risk Management, and Institutional Investor's Alpha. These included articles on pension accounting practices, the impact of FAS 133 regulations on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other corporate entity accounting, and issues within Credit Default Swap ISDA language that caused settlement issues as early as 2000 (see articles below).
In 2006, Mr. Leib notably redeemed from Amaranth Advisors before major trading issues hit that hedge fund, and also had previously spotted major risk issues developing at Ritchie Capital and Vega Asset Management -- two firms that also subsequently experienced substantive drawdown issues. In the spring of 2006, he wrote about his ability to see these problems brewing in this editorial: "No One Rings a Bell."
Please contact Mr. Leib at 973-525-9257 or BarclayTLeib@sandspringllc.com should you be in potential need of his services.
Disclosure Statement
Sand Spring Advisors provides information and analysis from sources and using methods it believes reliable, but ultimately, investment decisions made by investors are not our responsibility. All investors should consult with a Registered Investment Advisor on their financial allocations.
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