Joseph P. Babits, MBA, JD, is a tenured legal professional who has accrued more than 30 years of professional excellence in national securities law. Serving with Shell USA Inc. as lead U.S. securities counsel and associate counsel, he represents Shell plc in interactions with government entities, ensuring full compliance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, he is well-versed in international securities regulations within the European market, particularly in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Deeply involved in all aspects of U.S. securities law, Mr. Babits possesses comprehensive knowledge of all 34 act reports, public offerings, M&A and investigations, having represented Shell plc in investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement, and the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation. Furthermore, Mr. Babits has been a staunch advisor to the Shell disclosure committee, as well as a member of Shell’s financial controls and reporting committee and the carbon reporting committee. Adjacent to his primary endeavors, Mr. Babits has served as a faculty member of the Practicing Law Institute’s seminar on global capital and U.S. securities law.
Prior to his current role, Mr. Babits served with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C., as an attorney advisor and special counsel in its Division of Corporate Finance between 1991 and 1997. Thereafter, he served with Morgan Lewis & Bockius as an associate in its securities group for the following year. Returning to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 1998, he was recognized as special counsel in the Office of Chief Counsel, then served as counsel to Commissioner Issac C. Hunt from 1999 to 2002. Subsequently, Mr. Babits returned to the Division of Corporate Finance in 2002, where he helped negotiate the corporate governance rules of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ and served as the principal drafter of non-GAAP rules.
As a testament to his success and achievements, Mr. Babits earned the Capital Market Award from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Furthermore, he has been selected for inclusion in Fortune Magazine and Forbes for 2024, having previously been highlighted in The Wall Street Journal on December 6, 2023. In the near future, Mr. Babits endeavors to run for the Republican nomination to represent Florida’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Notably, his primary issues will be focused on securing the border, implementing term limits in Congress and preventing coercion by federal agencies.