Practices

Financial Services Regulatory

Why Cooley

Cooley provides innovative yet practical advice to financial services industry clients such as banks, nonbank consumer financial services providers, payment networks, marketplace providers, and other technology companies and investors. Our cross-disciplinary team counsels clients on regulatory matters, privacy, transactions, government enforcement and litigation.

Cooley’s financial services regulatory practice advises clients on complex regulatory issues related to payment systems, cash management and other asset accounts, money transmission, virtual currency activities, lending (both traditional and nontraditional lending) and capital-raising platforms. We help emerging companies, established financial institutions, retailers, technology companies and investors understand the financial services regulatory landscape and its practical impact on companies seeking to get products and services to market in an efficient and compliant manner. We work closely with our clients to assist with obtaining money transmission and lending licenses, and in structuring partnerships and other arrangements. We regularly represent our clients in front of state banking departments and other regulatory authorities with respect to their operations as regulated financial institutions and in connection with new payments services initiatives.

Financial Services Enforcement

Cooley’s financial services enforcement practice represents bank and nonbank providers of consumer financial services in federal and state investigations, examinations and litigation. We are particularly experienced in defending investigations pertaining to mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, auto lending, unsecured lending, and payment and deposit-taking platforms. We also have a strong track record in resolving complex allegations of discrimination and violations of fair lending laws. Our team has represented clients before the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and state attorneys general and financial institution departments.

Areas of Practice

Regulatory and Compliance

  • Offer deep experience advising on all federal and state consumer protection laws
  • Lead state money transmission licensing and regulatory compliance initiatives
  • Advise on Federal Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering program compliance
  • Lead state lending licensing initiatives, and advise on these and related laws
  • Advise on fair lending laws, testing and examinations
  • Advise on all aspects of mortgage lending and servicing
  • Advise on digital currency and blockchain activities
  • Advise on alternative lending and banking activities
  • Offer product counseling design and development support for money movement and payments platforms and lending programs
  • Support two separate industry-leading nonbank payment services trade groups
  • Advise on regulatory compliance strategies for bank and nonbank partnerships
  • Advise on open banking and account aggregation
  • Address regulatory and strategic considerations relating to alternative financial products such as cash management accounts (commercial and consumer)
  • Advise on broker-dealer and investment adviser regulation, and “status issues”
  • Advise on securities trading and funding platforms for traditional and virtual currency
  • Support marketing and product distribution

Transactional Support

  • Offer transactional due diligence (buy and sell side)
  • Advise on regulated entity transactions (change of control)
  • Advise on regulatory licensing (i.e., money transmission, lending)
  • Support payment processing and partnership agreements
  • Advise on strategic bank partnership agreements, including credit, debit, prepaid, deposit and charge card programs
  • Advise broker‐dealers, investment advisers and other financial market participants regarding transactional matters

Supervision, Investigation and Enforcement

  • Represent bank and nonbank consumer financial services providers in federal and state investigations and litigation matters
  • Represent clients before every major federal enforcement agency, including the CFPB, the DOJ, the FTC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and HUD
  • Represent payments services providers, including money transmitters and lenders, before state attorneys general and financial institution departments
  • Provide examination support

Clients

Our clients include:

  • Alternative investment fund managers
  • Alternative lending and banking providers
  • Asset managers
  • Banks
  • Broker-dealers
  • Credit providers
  • Crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending platform providers
  • Deposit takers
  • Digital currency platforms
  • Ecommerce and B2B marketplaces
  • Electronic payment platforms
  • E-money issuers
  • Financial advisers
  • Insurance and reinsurance distributors
  • Insurers, reinsurers and captives
  • Lenders
  • Money transmitters and stored value and payment instrument issuers
  • Payment processors and payment facilitators
  • Payment service providers
  • Payroll service providers
  • Retail and commercial payments platforms
  • Retailers
  • Technology companies
  • Venture capital, private equity and hedge fund manager advisers