April 18, 2019, Covington Alert

On April 8, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Board”) approved a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Resolution Plan Proposal” or the “Proposal”), issued jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC,” and together with the Board, the “Agencies”), that would revise the Agencies’ jointly issued resolution ...

April 17, 2019, Covington Alert

On April 8, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) released two proposals to tailor and modify the applicability of enhanced prudential standards for foreign banking organizations (“FBOs”) and their U.S. intermediate holding companies (“IHCs”).

2019, American Bar Association

Our cross-disciplinary Internet of Things initiative contributed to the ABA's first book on IoT, The Internet of Things: Legal Issues, Policy, & Practical Strategies.   Laura Kim and Jennifer Johnson authored the chapter “U.S. Regulatory Framework for IoT,” with contributions from Sarah Wilson (product safety); Wade Ackerman, Elizabeth Guo, Christopher Hanson, ...

March 13, 2019, Covington Alert

On March 6, 2019, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”) voted unanimously to issue proposed interpretive guidance (“Proposed Guidance”) that would significantly change its approach to designating nonbank financial companies that pose a risk to the financial stability of the United States (“nonbank SIFIs”) for supervision and prudential regulation by ...

January 31, 2019, American Banker, On-Demand Web Seminar

January 22, 2019

NEW YORK—Covington advised Prisma Medios de Pago, Argentina’s leading payments company, in the sale of a controlling stake to Advent International. Prisma’s existing shareholders will retain a 49% stake in the company. The transaction values 100 percent of Prisma at $1.42 billion.   Prisma is an Argentinian company established in 2014 through the merger of Visa ...

January 9, 2019

WASHINGTON—Karen Solomon has joined Covington's Financial Services Group in Washington. Before joining Covington, Ms. Solomon served as the Acting Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). In that role and in her prior role as Deputy Chief Counsel, Ms. Solomon’s work included developing and drafting ...

December 26, 2018, Bloomberg Law

Michael Nonaka is quoted Bloomberg Law regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s 2019 revamped rules for banks’ community investments. Mr. Nonaka says, “It’ll be interesting to see what the next step is in the rulemaking process, and that will reveal whether there are these differences.” He said the agencies are likely to come together on some ...

December 20, 2018, Covington Alert

On December 18, 2018, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) seeking comment on the regulatory approach to brokered deposits and the interest rate caps applicable to banks that are less than well capitalized. The FDIC for some time has been exploring the extent to which the current regulatory ...

December 2018, Covington Alert

FinTech refers to the use of new and emerging technologies in the financial services industry to improve the delivery of financial services to customers, and includes innovations such as cryptocurrencies and open banking. Recent years have ushered in the use of several key technologies in the FinTech landscape, including artificial intelligence, data analytics, ...

December 1, 2018, Practical Law

This chapter provides a comprehensive overview on fintech regulation in the United States as part of a global fintech guide published by Thomson Reuters. Reproduced from Practical Law with the permission of the publishers. For further information, visit www.practicallaw.com.

November 29, 2018, American Banker

Michael Nonaka is quoted in the American Banker regarding how banks focused on improving their technology have shown a propensity to quickly enter into fintech partnerships. Mr. Nonaka says, “One of the most interesting developments is now small and large banks have gotten to the point where these partnerships are just business as usual. There is a lot more ...

November 27, 2018, The Clearing House + Bank Policy Institute, 2018 Annual Conference

November 15, 2018, Law360

October 17, 2018, International Financial Law Review

Michael Nonaka is quoted in International Financial Law Review regarding the potential modernization of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977. Mr. Nonaka says, “It’s important to make sure that with new innovative technologies and people using smartphones and the internet to connect with banks, that all those services are tracked for purposes of CRA premise. ...

October 16, 2018, Institute of International Bankers, Risk Management and Regulatory Examination/Compliance Seminar

October 10, 2018, Lend360

October 5, 2018, Privacy + Security Forum

September 28, 2018

WASHINGTON—The National Law Journal has named Covington's Michael Nonaka to its inaugural list of "Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, & Fintech Trailblazers." This list profiles 50 lawyers who have "moved the needle" and are making great strides as finance and technology grow more entwined. Mr. Nonaka is co-chair of the firm’s Financial Services Group and advises ...

September 21, 2018, Bank Director

September 5, 2018, Covington Alert

This client alert summarizes recent regulatory developments relating to fintech and discusses the implications of these developments.

August 17, 2018

WASHINGTON— Law360 named Covington lawyers Alexander Berengaut, Michael Nonaka, and Ursula Owczarkowski to its list of “2018 Rising Stars.” This annual recognition honors top attorneys under 40 “whose legal accomplishments transcend their age.” Alex Berengaut represents clients in civil litigation, international arbitrations, and government enforcement ...

August 8, 2018

WASHINGTON—Covington advised Wilmington, Delaware-based WSFS Financial Corporation in its acquisition of Philadelphia-based Beneficial Bancorp, Inc., in a transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. This is the second bank M&A deal in two weeks where Covington is representing the acquiring institution. Covington is also representing Dallas-based Veritex ...

August 1, 2018, Bloomberg Law

Michael Nonaka is quoted in Bloomberg Law on the fintech industry’s enthusiasm regarding the Treasury Department’s recommendation that Congress support the “valid when made” doctrine. Mr. Nonaka adds, “The [recommendation] shows that these issues are not going away and that the uncertainty created from a growing body of inconsistent court opinions isn't a stable ...

July 31, 2018, Law360

Michael Nonaka is quoted in Law360 regarding the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency accepting applications for special-purpose national bank charters from financial technology companies. Mr. Nonaka says it will be a while before any fintech firms operate as national banks, and they may ultimately decide the special purpose charter does not suit their ...

July 23, 2018, Goldman Sachs Prime Services Hedge Fund Consulting

July 20, 2018, Silicon Valley Association of General Counsel

July 3, 2018, Covington Alert

On June 28, 2018, the Governor of California signed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”). The new law is the most comprehensive data privacy statute in the United States and introduces significant privacy requirements for covered businesses. The CCPA takes effect on January 1, 2020, but based on comments from both the public-interest and business ...

June 14, 2018, Covington Alert

This week has brought three significant developments in Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (“BSA/AML”) regulation and legislation.

June 6, 2018, Cloud, Big Data & AI

May 29, 2018, Bloomberg Law

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Bloomberg Law article regarding guidance from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on small-dollar installment loans. The OCC was likely making an observation and statements of fact “rather than trying to write into the policy any discouragement of any bank-fintech partnership," says Nonaka. But the provision “does stick ...

April 25, 2018, Bloomberg Law

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Bloomberg Law article regarding Rep. Patrick McHenry's statements at a recent conference stressing that a proposal to modify how banks comply with investment requirements in local communities must take account of new technologies such as mobile banking. According to Nonaka, the Treasury's report, which included recommendations for ...

April 25, 2018, HB Litigation Conference

April 20, 2018, Covington Alert

On April 10, 2018, the Federal Reserve issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement a stress capital buffer ("SCB") into its capital requirements; revise its capital planning rule for bank holding companies with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets and U.S. intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations established pursuant to ...

April 19, 2018, Covington's Financial Regulatory Forum

April 18, 2018, Corporate Council on Africa, Africa Finance Forum

April 10, 2018, Risk Magazine

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Risk Magazine article regarding U.S. Treasury's proposed reform to the bankruptcy code known as Chapter 14, intended to be the first resort ahead of orderly liquidation authority (OLA). According to Nonaka, “You want there to be different tools in the toolkit in the event of a crisis. That doesn’t mean you have to use Title II, but ...

April 3, 2018, Washington Lawyer

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Washington Lawyer article regarding legal opportunities surrounding blockchain. While some lawyers might eventually become blockchain-specialty attorneys, blockchain is looking “more like a technology you have to know about if you’re in certain industries,” says Nonaka. For instance, highly regulated industries such as energy and ...

March 8, 2018, Law360

March 2018, Microsoft

February/March 2018, Bankruptcy Law Journal

February 21, 2018, American Banker

February 16, 2018, Florida Bar Association, ILS Global Forum on International Law

January 9, 2018, American Bar Association Consumer Financial Services Committee Meeting

January 1, 2018, Law360

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Law360 article providing a look ahead at bank regulations in 2018. According to Nonaka, leadership changes should mean that banks will see a shift in their operating environment that they had been expecting for some time to come over the course of 2018. “The people will be in place, the will will be there, so I think there will be ...

November 9, 2017, Covington Alert

On October 31, 2017, the Office of the Comptroller Currency (“OCC”) released OCC Bulletin 2017-48, Updated Guidance: Bank Enforcement Actions and Related Matters, updating its internal policies and procedures regarding bank enforcement actions and related matters.

November 2, 2017, Law360

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Law360 article regarding President Trump's selection of Jerome Powell to chair the Federal Reserve. According to Nonaka, Powell will bring a level of stability that should temper any radical moves, particularly on regulation and supervision of big banks. “He has experience being on the board, so he understands how large bank ...

October 16, 2017, Institute of International Bankers Risk Management and Regulatory Compliance Seminar

October 12, 2017, Berkeley Center for Law, Business and the Economy, Fundamentals of Banking Law & FinTech 2017

September 7, 2017, PLI Marketplace Lending and Crowdfunding

August 3, 2017, Corporate Counsel Magazine

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Corporate Counsel Magazine article regarding the Office of the Comptroller's argument that it cannot be sued over its plans for a special purpose national bank charter. According to Nonaka, "it's a fair assumption" the Conference of State Bank Supervisors would continue to pursue litigation against the OCC if the case is thrown out, ...

June 15, 2017, Law360

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Law360 article examining how U.S. regulators are fostering fintech innovation. According to Nonaka, the CFTC and FINRA initiatives are important steps to get the agencies up to speed on fintech issues. “It’s certainly a step forward, it’s a step in the right direction for the regulators to be able to do new initiatives that will ...

June 13, 2017, On the Road to Recovery: Phasing in Your Bank's Recovery Plan

May 31, 2017, The National Law Journal

Michael Nonaka is quoted by The National Law Journal in an article regarding the likelihood that the U.S. will introduce a regulatory sandbox for fintech companies to test new products and business models without regulatory consequences. According to Nonaka, there is "great value" in a sandbox for entrepreneurs, but "in order for a sandbox to work, you have to ...

May 11, 2017, Forbes

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Forbes article regarding the prospect of President Trump's taxing remittances for a Mexico border wall, and the possibility of an increase in the use of digital currencies as a result. In discussing banks and payment companies' experience in this field, Nonaka indicates that these institutions have taken the proposed rules in ...

April 24, 2017, Covington Alert

On April 19, 2017, the House Financial Services Committee (the “Committee”) released a new “discussion draft” of the Financial CHOICE Act, its comprehensive regulatory reform bill (“CHOICE Act 2.0”). The Committee released the first version of the bill (“CHOICE Act 1.0”) in June 2016.

March 28, 2017, The CLS Blue Sky Blog Columbia Law School's Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets

March 6, 2017, Covington Alert

Following up on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (the “Bureau,” or “CFPB”) monthly complaint report highlighting credit reporting issues (and particularly issues with accuracy and disputes), on March 2, 2017, the CFPB issued a special edition of its Supervisory Highlights bulletin focusing on consumer reporting issues, highlighting those same concerns. ...

February 22, 2017, Payments Compliance

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a Payments Compliance article regarding financial crime regulation under President Trump amid Dodd-Frank reforms. According to Nonaka, “The conversation around deregulation hasn’t touched on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing compliance and enforcement.” The “strong nexus with law enforcement and border protection,” is why ...

February 21, 2017

In September 2016, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued final guidance for recovery planning, requiring OCC-regulated banking organizations with average total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more to develop recovery plans. Covered banks with at least $750 billion in assets are required to comply by July 1, 2017; covered banks with at least ...

February 6, 2017, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

February 3, 2017, Covington Alert

Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to curtail financial regulations, particularly those promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act. President Trump argued frequently that the regulations issued under the act have proven overly burdensome and, among other things, limited job growth. This afternoon, the President took his first formal step in ...

December 15, 2016, Mortgage Bankers Association CRA Lending Workshop

December 11, 2016, Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation

December 5, 2016, Covington Alert

On December 2, 2016, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry announced that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) would move forward with issuing special purpose national bank charters to financial technology (“fintech”) companies. The OCC released a whitepaper1 outlining its authority to issue charters to fintech companies, its approach to ...

October 20, 2016, Covington Alert

On October 19, 2016, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (collectively the “Agencies”) released a joint Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) requesting public comment on enhanced cybersecurity standards that would apply to ...

September 16, 2016, Columbia Law School Center for Israeli Legal Studies Fintech Conference

September 9, 2016, PLI Marketplace Lending and Crowdfunding

September 2016, The Review of Banking & Financial Services

August 25, 2016, PaymentsCompliance

Michael Nonaka is quoted in a PaymentsCompliance article regarding FinCEN’s renewed efforts to reissue anti-laundering (AML) controls on prepaid cards after abandoning original proposals two years earlier. According to Nonaka, “There are all these controls and existing tracking mechanisms that apply to cross-border movements of cash, but these aren't in place ...

July 28, 2016, Covington Alert

Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued its outline of proposals under consideration for a debt collection rulemaking that would govern third-party debt collection activities of debt collection agencies, debt buyers, collection law firms, and loan servicers. Release of this outline of proposals signals the start of the Small Business ...

June 13, 2016, Covington Alert

The Federal Reserve has recently sent non-compliance notices to U.S. issuers of foreign-currency denominated bonds that are sold abroad (“foreign bonds”), including Euro bonds, for failure to submit Treasury International Capital (TIC) Form SLT. Although the final instructions for Form SLT were promulgated in February 2011, this filing requirement has come as a ...

May 10, 2016, Covington Alert

On May 5, 2016, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued its long-awaited final rule on beneficial ownership with respect to customer due diligence requirements. The final rule requires covered financial institutions to adopt due diligence procedures to identify and verify a legal entity customer’s beneficial owner(s) at the time a new account ...

May 9, 2016, The Wall Street Journal

Mr. Nonaka was quoted in the article that discussed the rollout of the Treasury Department’s customer due diligence rule and related anti-corruption plan.

May 5, 2016, Data Guidance

Michael Nonaka is quoted in this Data Guidance article regarding the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council’s latest version of its data security standard. According to Nonaka, "PCI DSS version 3.2 does not reflect sweeping changes to the requirements in prior versions, but it is indicative of the data security priorities being expressed by card ...

April 12, 2016, Law.com

Michael Nonaka is quoted in this law.com article describing the federal government’s use of geographic targeting orders to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in the real estate sector. According to Nonaka, “real estate transactions have been a focus of FinCEN for a long time…We’re likely to see this continue for quite some time.”

April 11, 2016, ACAMS AML & Financial Crimes Conference (21st Annual)

April 9, 2016, American Bar Association: Cyberspace Law Committee 2016 Spring Meeting

April 8, 2016, American Bar Association: Consumer Financial Services Committee 2016 Spring Meeting

April 1, 2016, Covington Alert

Yesterday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued a whitepaper, Supporting Responsible Innovation in the Federal Banking System: An OCC Perspective, that introduces the agency’s principles for facilitating and regulating “responsible innovation” in the federal banking system, particularly in financial technology or “fintech.” The whitepaper ...

March 2016, E-Commerce Law and Policy

February 8, 2016, BNA's Banking Daily

January 4, 2016, The National Law Review

October 15, 2015, Covington Alert

October 1, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC, October 1, 2015 - Covington has elected nine of its lawyers to partnership. “We are delighted to welcome our new partners, who exemplify the spirit and substance of Covington,” said Timothy Hester, chair of the firm’s management committee. “This partnership class reflects our focus on the firm’s core practice strengths. We are confident that ...

June 2015, 2015 American Bankers Association Regulatory Compliance Conference

May 15, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC, May 15, 2015  — Covington represented Public Pension Capital, LLC in the formation of a strategic partnership with and investment in Kramer Van Kirk Credit Strategies LP, a Chicago-based manager of collateralized loan obligations with more than $4 billion in assets under management. Public Pension Capital also acquired a stake in KVK Technology ...

September 22, 2014, BankDirector.com

April 30, 2014, BankDirector.com

February 24, 2014, Covington E-Alert

2014, Regulation of Foreign Banks and Affiliates in the United States

2014, Regulation of Foreign Banks and Affiliates in the United States

December 11, 2013, Covington E-Alert

February 14, 2013, Covington Advisory

May 10, 2012, Bank Director

October 11, 2011, Covington Advisory

October 11, 2011, Covington Advisory

December 14, 2010, Covington E-Alert

2/22/2010

NEW YORK, February 22, 2010 — Financial Federal Corporation and People’s United Financial, Inc. have completed the merger of Financial Federal with People’s United in a transaction valued at approximately $738 million. Covington & Burling LLP advised Financial Federal on the transaction. Financial Federal is a financial services company providing collateralized ...

June 29, 2009, Covington E-Alert

June 2009, New Jersey Bankers Association Compliance Seminar

September 23, 2008, Covington E-Alert

June 12, 2008, Covington E-Alert

February 4, 2008, Financial Services Law 360