Financial Services Regulation

Covington’s preeminent financial services practice advises financial institutions and fintech clients on a wide range of legal and regulatory issues, including:

• Permissible activities and structures, de novo bank formation, branching, and charter conversions
• Regulation of foreign banking organizations
• Regulatory capital and liquidity requirements
• Federal preemption counseling and litigation
• Trust company regulation
• Anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance
• Transactions with affiliates and insiders
• Recovery and resolution planning
• Volcker Rule restrictions on proprietary trading and investment fund affiliations
• Supervisory examinations
• Community Reinvestment Act performance
• Privacy and data security
• Stablecoin regulation
• State regulation of money transmitter, lending, and other activities

In the United States, we practice before the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the New York State Department of Financial Services and other state bank regulatory agencies, as well as the United States Departments of Justice and Treasury (including FinCEN and OFAC).  Outside the United States, our global practice supports our clients before key financial services regulators and central banks around the world, as well as international standard-setting bodies such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Financial Stability Board, and Financial Action Task Force.

We frequently represent financial services firms and their trade associations on the most pressing regulatory policy matters of the day. Our attorneys have been closely involved in the enactment and implementation of every major financial services legislation in modern history, including the Riegle-Neil Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, and the GENIUS Act. In many instances, we have confronted long-standing obstacles that the industry has faced, shaping novel solutions that have received regulatory approval and helping financial institutions develop new and innovative products.