2026 West Coast Private Funds, AI, Regulatory & Compliance Workshop

Brian Digney

Research and Content Director, SBAI

Brian Digney joined the SBAI in March 2023 in the role of Research and Content Director. He is responsible for content development and co-ordination of the ongoing and future working groups on a wide variety of topics, including valuation of private assets, ESG & carbon footprinting, governance, insurance linked strategies, digital assets, asset management regulation and compliance as well as new topics to be determined in the future.

Prior to joining the SBAI, Brian was the Head of Due Diligence & Governance Oversight at Innocap Global Investment Management (Ireland) Ltd (2018-2023) in Dublin, a subsidiary of Innocap Investment Management Inc., a US$50bn hedge fund platform. He acted as Designated Person for Operational Risk Management, a regulated role by the Central Bank of Ireland. He also sat on Innocap’s Irish Risk Oversight and Valuation Committees. In 2017, Brian joined Albourne Partners in London as a Senior Operational Due Diligence Analyst. From 2015 to 2017 he was employed as an Operational Due Diligence Analyst at Mercer Sentinel in London. From 2010 to 2015 he held various Associate level roles at Decura LLP, Morgan Stanley and Citi.

Brian holds an LLB Hons in Law with Criminology and an M.Sc. in Management and Corporate Governance from University of Ulster. Brian is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Christine Ayako Schleppegrell

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Christine Ayako Schleppegrell counsels asset managers on legal, regulatory, and compliance matters, focusing on advisers to private funds (private equity, hedge, venture capital, infrastructure, real estate, credit) and separately managed accounts. She spent several years in private practice and more recently at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including in leadership roles in the Division of Investment Management. While at the SEC, Christine led the Private Funds Branch during a time of landmark rulemaking impacting private fund advisers, she draws on this experience to advise on current and pending regulations and to guide clients through enforcement and examination proceedings.

Christine’s practice focuses on the interpretation and application of federal securities laws, primarily the Advisers Act, Investment Company Act, Exchange Act, and Securities Act. She serves as a resource for SEC-registered advisers, exempt reporting advisers, and unregistered advisers, ranging from global asset managers with diverse product offerings to startup advisers launching their first funds. Christine provides strategic advice on fund and adviser structuring and deal-related regulatory issues that arise in connection with corporate purchases and mergers and acquisitions. She also specialises in counseling on marketing rule compliance and performance advertising as well as extraterritorial matters, including participating affiliate arrangements.

Scott Milner

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Scott A. Milner leads Morgan Lewis’s global data analytics and governance practice. For more than 20 years, Scott has helped clients navigate complex data and technology issues arising in discovery, investigations, due diligence, and privacy matters.

He counsels clients on strategic eDiscovery management, litigation readiness, and information governance, including artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technology adoption and governance.

Scott leads a multidisciplinary team delivering services through a distinctive combination of legal, technical, and project management capabilities while helping shape the practice’s evolving service offerings.

Mana Behbin

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Mana Behbin represents registered investment companies and onshore and offshore private equity funds and hedge funds. She also counsels in reorganizing large mutual fund complexes and numerous mutual fund mergers, and preparing various US Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including registration statements and proxy statements.

In addition, Mana counsels domestic and international clients on various issues relating to private equity and hedge fund offerings, including fund formation, organization of domestic and offshore entities, and compliance with US law.

Julie Stapel

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Julie Stapel provides effective and practical solutions to clients’ complex ERISA issues. She proficiently steers plan sponsors and investment managers through ERISA’s fiduciary and prohibited transaction rules, and negotiates virtually every type of investment-related agreement with employee benefit plans.

Julie uses exceptional communication and interpersonal skills to advise clients on a wide range of ERISA topics, including effective fiduciary governance, risk management, the creation of “white label” investment options, and the application of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in plan investment decisionmaking.

Monica Chang

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Monica H. Chang works primarily on the structuring, formation, and governance of, and investment in, US domestic and international private investment funds in all asset classes.

Monica advises fund sponsors and investment managers on fund formations and the structuring of separately managed account vehicles, secondary transactions, portfolio investments, and matters relating to fund governance and issues of state corporate and partnership law.

Ali Rivett

Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Ali Rivett focuses on securities enforcement and litigation matters. She represents financial institutions, as well as public companies (and their officers and directors), in regulatory matters and investigations involving the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), US Department of Justice (DOJ), and in civil litigation.

Ali also represents companies and board committees in connection with internal investigations and whistleblower-related issues.