Experience
Recognition
Resources
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| Federal Regulatory and Legislative Matters |
WilmerHale’s experience spans the full range of regulatory issues relating to banks, thrifts, bank and thrift holding companies, and other financial institutions operating in the United States and globally. We also regularly represent non–depository financial institutions, including trust companies, investment advisers, broker–dealers, insurance companies, government sponsored enterprises, state-licensed lenders and various non-traditional providers of financial services.
We practice before and counsel clients on compliance with the rules, regulations, and guidance of the Federal Reserve Board (FRB); the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC); the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS); the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); the Treasury Department; the Federal Trade Commission (FTC); the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN); the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC); and state banking and financial regulatory agencies. Many of our attorneys are veterans of these agencies.
Counseling
- We assist financial institutions in all aspects of their relationships with federal and state regulators, including charter, license and other applications, reporting requirements, requests for interpretive and exemptive relief, and responses to Reports of Examination.
- In recent years, we have prepared a variety of charter and license applications for domestic and foreign banks, including de novo, conversion, holding company, representative office and branch applications. We have also obtained agency relief from various regulations, and assisted institutions with managing their supervisory relationships.
- We regularly counsel clients on questions about the nature and extent of permissible powers under various financial institution charters and licenses. For example, we have worked with national banks and the OCC on preemption matters, and have obtained from the OCC an interpretation expanding the hedging powers of national banks and similar interpretations from the OTS on the powers of federal thrifts and from state agencies on the reach of state financial services laws.
- We regularly advise complex banking organizations, often with securities and insurance affiliates, on the scope and structure of permissible banking and financial activities, including trust and fiduciary, securities, insurance, real estate, and merchant banking activities, and provide advice on regulatory requirements governing affiliate transactions, capital adequacy, anti-tying, margin credit, securities push-out, “dual hatting” and shared space arrangements.
- We counsel depository institutions, investment advisers, funds and others on a variety of “control” issues, including noncontrolling investments in bank and thrift securities and exemptions for securities held in fiduciary capacities, and frequently obtain favorable banking agency relief from control filing requirements.
- We have advised US and international financial institutions on a wide range of anti-money laundering, OFAC, data security and privacy issues.
- We provide advice and assist clients with issues related to bank resolution and receiverships, including preparing materials and communicating with the FDIC regarding the failed bank bidding process, filing proofs of claim, and navigating the bank receivership process in parallel with any related bankruptcy proceedings.
- We advise financial institutions and banking trade associations on legislative and regulatory proposals, including drafting comment letters and meeting with senior representatives of the relevant agencies.
- We assist clients in understanding the implications of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and monitoring the various required rulemakings and studies.
Litigation and Enforcement
- We maintain an active enforcement practice defending institutions, boards of directors, and individual officers and directors before all the federal banking agencies, the SEC, the DOJ, the FTC, and other federal and state enforcement agencies. We regularly conduct internal investigations on behalf of institutions, audit committees and special committees of boards of directors, including reviews of whistleblower accusations, 10A investigations and other claims of misconduct.
- We have an active federal and state trial and appellate litigation practice for financial institution clients. We regularly represent the ABA, AFSA and other banking group trade associations in cases of importance to the industry.
- We consistently advise and assist clients in preparation for appearances before congressional committees, and have represented numerous financial services clients in congressional inquiries and investigations.
Transactions
- We regularly serve as regulatory and/or transactional counsel in mergers and acquisitions of financial institutions, including national and state-chartered banks, credit card banks, trust companies, federal thrifts and state-licensed lenders and servicers.
For further information on our Financial Institutions Regulatory practice, please contact Russell J. Bruemmer at +1 202 663 6804 or Franca Harris Gutierrez at +1 202 663 6557.
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Regulatory and Government Affairs Practice Areas
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