Experience
Our services cover the full range of federal and state regulatory matters affecting corporate structure and governance; mergers and acquisitions; private investments; new lines of business, products and services; examination and enforcement matters; and all aspects of regulatory compliance. In addition to decades of counseling on the laws governing banking and credit, our expertise is bolstered by significant tenures with the federal government and major banking organizations. Our attorneys have longstanding relationships with the principal bank regulatory authorities at both the federal and state levels.
Our experience and services include:
Financial Reform Legislation – evaluating the regulatory and operational consequences of current and anticipated federal legislation to reform the financial services industry and working closely with clients to develop and implement comprehensive Dodd-Frank Act strategic action plans.
Regulatory Developments – tracking and analyzing regulatory proposals, new and amended rules, supervisory guidance, enforcement actions and examination trends, including focus on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Overall Compliance – counseling clients subject to all levels of supervision (from highly regulated depository institutions to unregulated providers of financial products and services) regarding compliance practices, including the creation and remediation of compliance programs designed to satisfy the full range of financial regulatory requirements.
Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances – managing complex mergers, internal reorganizations, supervisory and other acquisitions (including nonbank acquisitions), asset purchases and sales, joint ventures and controlling and noncontrolling investments in banking and nonbanking institutions.
Capital Raising and Financing – advising on equity and debt offerings at all levels of a banking organization and the regulatory consequences of these transactions.
Capital Requirements – assessing the regulatory capital impact of specific assets, investments and structures, liquidity and international capital management standards, including BASEL II and BASEL III.
Corporate Governance – advising on board composition, risk management, internal controls, director and officer duties and responsibilities, and other corporate governance matters.
Enforcement Actions – counseling on examinations and related inquiries, enforcement actions, memoranda of understanding, prompt corrective action, cease and desist orders, and negotiating and implementing action plans for resolution or enforcement actions.
Charters, Insurance and Licenses – obtaining federal and state bank, thrift, trust and special purpose charters, federal deposit insurance and all types of state financial service licensing.
In addition, we offer a full range of regulatory compliance and specialized product support, including the performance of risk assessments and the development and implementation of comprehensive compliance programs. These services include the following areas as well as many others:
Consumer Financial Services – federal and state laws governing the creation and delivery of consumer financial products and services, including deposit products, loan products (e.g., mortgage, auto, education and retail installment), card products (e.g., credit, debit and stored value), and trust and asset management products.
Payment Systems – card issuer and merchant acquirer services (e.g., processing, gift card and check clearing, vendor and merchant contracting, purchase and sale of card portfolios, and co-branded and private label card programs), cross-border payments, check imaging and truncation, and ACH, SWIFT,CHIPS and Fedwire systems.
Remittance Transfer Advocacy and Compliance – requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act, newly finalized remittance transfer rules and additional regulatory developments that relate to the extensive new compliance obligation for consumer-initiated cross-border transfers.
Financial Information, Privacy and Data Security – requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, EU Data Protection Directive, Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act and state privacy laws.
Anti-Money-Laundering Compliance – the Bank Secrecy Act, USA PATRIOT Act, and laws and regulations administered and enforced by Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Bank-Owned Life Insurance – product selection, stable value features, contract drafting and negotiation, pre-purchase due diligence, policy surrenders and exchanges, state insurable interest laws, federal tax considerations and BOLI performance litigation.
Accolades
- Alston & Bird is ranked by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (2010) in the category of Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Compliance).
- Alston & Bird represents The Clearing House Association L.L.C., which is the nation’s oldest payments company and banking association. The Clearing House is owned by 21 of the largest commercial banks in America, which hold more than half of all U.S. deposits. Among other things, The Clearing House Association is a nonpartisan advocacy organization that represents the interests of its owner banks on a variety of systemically important bank policy issues through the submission of regulatory comment letters, filing of amicus briefs and preparation of white papers. Alston & Bird provides support to The Clearing House with respect to many of these endeavors.
Bringing Value to Our Clients
Our bank regulatory practice is supported by the full interdisciplinary resources of Alston & Bird LLP, including attorneys with expertise in payment systems, corporate governance and transactions, tax, financial services litigation (including specialization in troubled bank matters), investment products and services, financing and securitization, private equity, and legislative affairs. With lawyers located in Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Charlotte devoted exclusively to the representation of banks and other financial institutions, Alston & Bird has the depth and experience necessary to meet any regulatory need.