Regulatory

Financial Institutions

Overview
Experience
People
Accolades
News & Insights

Overview

Gibson Dunn’s Financial Institutions Practice Group offers services in all disciplines, including across-the-board regulatory advice; transactional design, planning and execution; advocacy before U.S. regulatory agencies and Congress; representation in connection with criminal and regulatory enforcement actions; litigation counseling and defense; and strategic advice and crisis management.

Transactional work includes mergers and acquisitions advice; preparation of required applications to relevant bank regulatory agencies and negotiating with those agencies during the course of the approval process; and counseling on financial institution stock and debt issuances, including instruments compliant with the Basel III capital regime.

For M&A transactions, Gibson Dunn’s targeted teams, drawing on our relevant areas of practice, permit us to be a one-stop shop on all relevant areas of heightened compliance risk. We perform comprehensive due diligence reviews to assess compliance with the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and other anti-money laundering laws and regulations, U.S. sanctions (OFAC, the Office of Foreign Assets Control), and anti-corruption laws such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

Regulatory advice includes counseling and representing U.S. and international banks and financial holding companies before U.S. federal and state regulatory agencies. We advise on compliance with all aspects of regulation mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act, including enhanced capital and liquidity standards, heightened corporate governance expectations and the Volcker Rule. Our derivatives regulatory lawyers, who have significant Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) expertise, handle the full range of issues raised by Title VII of Dodd-Frank.

We advise all types of financial institutions, including banks, securities broker-dealers, mutual funds, private equity funds, insurance companies and money services businesses, on compliance with U.S. federal and state anti-money laundering laws and regulations and OFAC requirements. Our combination of knowledge and skill permits us to anticipate potential problems before they become serious timing or deal issues. We are also adept at assisting clients in responding effectively to examination criticisms in these areas.

Our corporate governance specialists guide senior management, boards of directors and committees regarding board and committee structure and operations and enterprise-wide risk management, which has become a critical focus of regulatory attention under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Our group also represents financial institutions and their officers and directors in connection with a wide variety of U.S. federal and state investigations and criminal and regulatory enforcement matters. We have also been engaged to represent special board committees, including outside directors, in connection with these and similar proceedings.

We provide strategic advice on pending legislation before the U.S. Congress and regulatory and public policy issues being considered by bank regulators. Our capabilities include drafting proposed bill amendments, meeting with members of Congress and their staffs to generate support, commenting on pending regulatory proposals, and challenging finalized regulations in court.

Experience

Recent representations include:

GE Capital in the sale of its retail deposit business to Goldman Sachs, the first expansionary transaction by a U.S. G-SIB approved by the Federal Reserve since passage of the Dodd-Frank Act.
Grupo Financiero Ficohsa, in acquiring Citibank’s retail banking and card operations in Honduras and Nicaragua.
General Electric in connection with the sale of its Mexican equipment lending and leasing business to a Latin American private equity group.
MetLife in its successful lawsuit challenging its designation as a systemically significant nonbank financial company by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
A U.S. bank holding company controlled by a non-U.S. bank group in connection with Section 165 enhanced prudential standards compliance and other bank regulatory issues.
Wells Fargo Securities as underwriters for the SEC-registered capital and senior debt issuances of Wells Fargo.
A significant U.S. bank holding company on its capital and senior debt issuances, periodic filings with the SEC, and corporate governance issues.
A UK bank group and its U.S. operations in connection with an enforcement action by the Federal Reserve Board, the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), and other state banking regulators relating to deficiencies in the UK group’s consolidated BSA/anti-money laundering and OFAC compliance programs.
A U.S. bank in connection with a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and enforcement actions by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) that involved the failure to maintain effective anti-money laundering and customer due diligence (CDD) programs.
U.S. broker-dealers in connection with money laundering enforcement actions by the DOJ, SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
A major property and casualty insurance company in securing an amendment to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) necessary to prevent TRIA from being applied in a way that would have significantly diluted the benefits of the program for the insurer.
Guided the uncleared swap margin bill to enactment into U.S. law, providing statutory certainty that nonfinancial end users are not subject to margin requirements for uncleared swaps.

Experience

Global Financial Regulatory

Based in the world’s leading financial centers, Gibson Dunn’s Global Financial Regulatory Group provides comprehensive regulatory advice to financial institutions on all aspects of compliance, enforcement and transactions.

Many of our team have significant in-house experience within financial institutions or have worked in senior positions within the world’s most prominent regulatory and policy agencies, including the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Our team have advised on matters involving all of these regulators, including many other global regulatory bodies.

Our services include advising on:

our clients’ most significant regulatory investigations and enforcement matters, including on high profile issues such as market misconduct, governance failings and systems and controls failures;
complex conduct and governance issues, including the implementation of senior management accountability regimes and advising senior management and boards of directors on culture and conduct risk;
regulatory issues in merger and acquisition transactions, including on a cross-border basis
the handling of client complaints, including the conduct of past business reviews, design, implementation and review of complaints handling and redress schemes;
applications for licenses and registrations, and engagement with regulators to seek relief, exemptions and interpretations in connection with regulatory compliance matters;
financial policy matters, including helping to shape the policies that impact our clients; and
the operation of financial services businesses inside and outside of the regulatory perimeter.

Derivatives

Gibson Dunn’s Derivatives team is led by lawyers with prior government experience at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Capitol Hill and the White House. Team members bring a wealth of knowledge, insight and familiarity with exchange-traded derivatives, over-the-counter derivatives and commodities, their markets and the regulatory oversight regime. We frequently provide regulatory counsel, legislative advice and representation on complex regulatory, compliance and interpretive derivatives issues before the CFTC, SEC and the U.S. federal banking agencies.

In the derivatives space, we have a unique understanding of the agencies’ structures, politics, processes and players. Our lawyers have firsthand experience drafting and interpreting Dodd-Frank rules and CFTC no-action relief.

Our diverse derivatives-related client base enables us to understand a range of issues from the perspective of various market participants. Our clients include swap dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, sovereign wealth funds, commercial end-users, insurance companies and other financial end-users, clearinghouses, swap execution facilities, futures commission merchants and trade associations.

Digital Currencies and Blockchain Technology

Gibson Dunn’s Digital Currencies and Blockchain Technology team advises financial institutions, corporations and service providers on the U.S. state and federal regulatory regimes and legislative issues surrounding decentralized digital currencies and blockchain technology, as well as international and cross-border matters related to their use. This includes virtual currencies and cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Our lawyers have a current, substantive and technical understanding of the ever-evolving world of virtual and digital currencies and the blockchain technology behind them – a competence that sets our team apart and is essential for comprehensive client counseling.

We assist clients in evaluating the practical uses and legal effects of introducing decentralized digital currencies and blockchain technology into their businesses. We frequently counsel clients in preparing and implementing the necessary anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) requirements imposed on money services businesses, including entities using or considering the use of decentralized digital currencies. Our lawyers also help in the creation, structuring and use of financial products involving these currencies and/or blockchain technology, including derivatives. We additionally often advise on compliance with U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to privacy, cybersecurity, data security, and related issues.

Our team members have a wealth of extensive experience in private practice and at senior government levels, bringing knowledge from different disciplines to create a uniquely diverse group. This allows us to address seamlessly all significant issues – from regulatory impact to policy concerns to cybersecurity issues to product development and implementation.

We have a thorough understanding of U.S. federal regulatory agencies and their rules, including those arising from:

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
The Federal Election Commission (FEC)

We have a deep familiarity as well with federal legislative developments and policy efforts surrounding decentralized digital currencies. We counsel on relevant state law requirements and legislative developments, including those arising under the New York Department of Financial Services’ (NYDFS) new regulations. And our team can guide clients through virtual currency developments in countries and organizations around the world.

With our sophisticated substantive capabilities, we are effective client advocates before regulatory agencies and the U.S. Congress and can guide our clients through the implementation and registration processes that cut across regulatory agencies at state, federal and cross-border levels. As relevant laws develop globally, our Digital Currencies and Blockchain Technology team is well-equipped to advise on compliance and implementation and to advocate on our clients’ behalf.

Team members are frequent speakers on issues relating to digital currencies and blockchain technology and have published articles and alerts on related topics.

Commodities and Derivatives Enforcement

Gibson Dunn’s Commodities and Derivatives Enforcement group has substantial experience handling Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) enforcement investigations as well as defending claims brought under the Commodity Exchange Act by the CFTC and private plaintiffs, including class actions. The group brings together the firm’s unmatched trial capabilities, global government investigation experience, substantive knowledge and cross-disciplinary expertise. Our lawyers bring a keen understanding of exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and physical commodity products, their markets, and their regulatory oversight regimes. Many of them have substantial experience working at regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the CFTC, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Our firm’s reach allows us to handle all aspects of these often highly complex matters, which can simultaneously include foreign and domestic governmental criminal and regulatory actions, multijurisdictional civil litigation, and U.S. Congressional investigations. Our Commodities and Derivatives Enforcement lawyers have deep cross-disciplinary proficiency, and they regularly work with our Derivatives team’s regulatory lawyers, who counsel clients on all aspects of derivatives regulation and compliance. Our lawyers also have comprehensive capabilities and familiarity drafting and challenging rules promulgated under the Commodity Exchange Act and the Dodd-Frank reforms.

Our Commodities and Derivatives Enforcement group has three key strengths.

First, we try cases. The American Lawyer named Gibson Dunn its 2020 Litigation Department of the Year, recognized as the “best of the best.” This unprecedented achievement was the firm’s fourth win in the last six years of the publication’s biennial “Litigation Department of the Year” competitions, and the sixth time in a row the firm has been a finalist. We achieved that distinction because our lawyers regularly try cases, especially complex ones involving interrelated law enforcement, regulatory and civil litigation.

Second, we have a global reach. Gibson Dunn has vibrant offices worldwide, but of particular importance to commodity and derivatives matters, we have a leading litigation presence in London, the seat of so much commodity and derivatives trading.

Finally, our lawyers have many decades of combined experience in government enforcement and litigation against the CFTC, DOJ, U.S. Federal Trade Commission, U.K. regulators, and others. Our lawyers’ knowledge of how government agencies conduct investigations and prosecute enforcement actions enables them to assist our clients in navigating those processes successfully.