Chris Paridon is Counsel in the Banking Regulation and Policy Group of the Legal Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Mr. Paridon has been with the Board’s Legal Division since 2008 where he works on regulatory implementation of Title VI and VII of the Dodd-Frank Act, including the so-called “Volcker Rule,” swaps margin and swaps push-out, and financial sector concentration limit provisions.  In addition, Mr. Paridon focuses on applications and interpretations under the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHC Act”), Change in Bank Control Act, and related statutes and regulations, including review of BHC Act activity and investment authority, banking organization mergers and acquisitions, and private equity investments in banking organizations.  Prior to joining the Board, he worked at the American Bankers Association as Counsel for legislative and regulatory affairs, and as an attorney at the U.S. Department of Commerce.  Mr. Paridon received a double B.A. with departmental honors from Ohio University, and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law.

Joe Jiampietro is a managing director in the Financial Institutions Group. He provides corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions advice to mid-cap and large regional banks in North America. Joe joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director in January 2011.

Prior to joining the firm, Joe was senior advisor for markets to Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, providing policy and legal advice relating to complex financial transactions, bid structures and capital markets. Earlier, Joe was a managing director in the Financial Institutions Groups at J.P. Morgan and UBS. He has spent 12 years in investment banking covering banks.

Prior to his career in investment banking, Joe was a corporate law associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He was also legal counsel to the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs during the 104th Congress.

Joe graduated from Dartmouth College in 1987 and the Columbia University School of Law in 1992. He and his wife have three daughters and live in Bronxville, New York.

Jordan A. Costa is an Assistant General Counsel in the Legal Department of JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he is a member of the Bank Regulatory Group, which advises on the impact of U.S. regulations on the firm's business and serves as liaison with U.S. bank regulatory agencies. Jordan has focused on the rules and regulations arising from the Dodd-Frank Act, and has served as one of the lead lawyers advising the firm on the development of its global resolution plan and strategy.  Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase in 2010, Jordan practiced in the Bankruptcy & Reorganization and Capital Markets groups at Shearman & Sterling LLP for over five years. Jordan received his J.D. magna cum laude from St. John's University School of Law, where he served as Executive Articles Editor of the St. John's Law Review and his B.A. from Fairfield University.

Kent Markus leads the Office of Enforcement at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Prior to joining the Bureau, Markus served as the Chief Legal and Ethics Counsel to the Governor of Ohio, Counselor to the U.S. Attorney General and Deputy Chief of Staff at the U.S. Justice Department, a law professor, director of a law-and-policy think tank, Chief of Staff for the Ohio Attorney General, and a private practitioner. He is a graduate of the US Capitol Page School, Northwestern University and Harvard Law School and is a 27-year Cleveland Indians season ticket holder.

Stuart Feldstein is the Director for Legislative and Regulatory Activities in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

In that capacity, Mr. Feldstein participates in and supervises legal work that includes the development and drafting of the OCC’s regulations, including those relating to the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act; analysis and drafting of legislative initiatives of importance to the national banking system and the OCC; and analysis and advice pertaining to the federal preemption of state law, the regulatory capital requirements that apply to national banks, and the OCC’s oversight of federal branches and agencies of foreign banks, and the international activities of national banks.

Mr. Feldstein joined the staff of the OCC in 1993 and was an Assistant Director in the Legislative and Regulatory Activities Division until 2010. From 1989 until joining the OCC, he was a senior associate at the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton working on issues related to the financial services industry. Mr. Feldstein began federal government service in 1985 at the predecessor agency of the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board.

Mr. Feldstein received his juris doctor in 1984 from the George Washington University School of Law, and a bachelor of arts (magna cum laude) in History and Political Science in 1981 from the University of Rochester.

Scott M. Albinson is a Managing Director and Co-Head of J.P. Morgan's North American Bank Coverage team in JPMorgan's Investment Bank. In addition to banks, Mr. Albinson advises a broad range of financial services clients. Additionally, Mr. Albinson served as financial advisor to Regions, Zions, Fifth Third, Key, and BMO on their CCAR and CapPR submissions, as well as numerous other companies on comprehensive capital planning, stress testing, and liquidity management in association with acquisitions or TARP repayment.

Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in January 2007, Mr. Albinson had served as Managing Director, Examinations, Supervision, and Consumer Protection for the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), where his responsibilities included overseeing the examinations, supervision, consumer affairs and protection, policy, trust activities, holding company and conglomerate supervision, economic analysis and research, corporate applications, information technology risk, monitoring, and international affairs functions for OTS. He also served as the agency’s representative on the Bank for International Settlements’ Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the BCBS Accord Implementation Group, Basel, Switzerland. He also represented OTS on the BCBS Task Force on the Future of Capital Regulation and the FFIEC Supervision Task Force.

Mr. Albinson’s background includes twenty-one years with OTS and with the Federal Home Loan Banks of Pittsburgh and Atlanta. He joined OTS when it was created in 1989 from the former Federal Home Loan Bank System. Mr. Albinson joined the Federal Home Loan Bank System as an examiner in 1986 from the private sector, where he was an Industrial Engineering Manager for a large food distribution and supermarket chain.

Mr. Albinson is a graduate of Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Business Administration. He is also a recipient of the Graduate Business Award, the top honor, from the Erivan K. Haub School of Business, St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, where he earned an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance. He resides in Maryland with his wife and four children.

Chris Duffy is a partner in the New York City office of Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, internal investigations, government investigations, and pre-litigation dispute resolution, usually for clients in the financial, media or sports industries.

As co-lead counsel in a 2011 trial in Delaware Chancery Court, Chris secured a victory for a hedge fund investor in one of the first cases to address the intersection of investment funds' fiduciary duties and their ability to "gate" investor funds. In 2009 and 2010, he worked alongside firm chairman David Boies on two high-profile jury trials in New York federal court, each involving billions of dollars of alleged damages.  More recently, Chris represented two witnesses in one of the most closely watched criminal trials of 2012. 

Chris is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the Columbia University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Columbia Law Review.

Heather Koenig is Global Chief Regulatory Counsel for BNY Mellon and leads the company's Office of Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs, which manages and oversees BNY Mellon's response to global regulatory reform, including issues arising from the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel, and other global regulatory initiatives. Heather and her team advise on advocacy and policy initiatives of the company to support BNY Mellon's domestic and international operations, and they also support all bank regulatory and supervisory issues.

Heather joined BNY Mellon in July, 2011 from Bank of America, where she served for five years as Associate General Counsel in various roles. Most recently, she was lead counsel for supervisory and regulatory relations, supporting Bank of America's global risk and compliance functions. Prior to that, Heather held lead counsel roles supporting several businesses, including deposit and debit products, electronic banking, ATMs and banking centers, consumer sales and marketing. Heather also served as lead privacy counsel for Bank of America. 

Prior to joining Bank of America, Heather practiced law for eight years in the Financial Institutions Regulatory Practice group at Skadden Arps in Washington D.C. and in Skadden's International Corporate Finance Practice Group in London. Heather received her B.A. from The College of William and Mary and her JD from American University. While in law school, she held positions at the U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  She joined Skadden following a clerkship for the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the "Rocket Docket").

Heather is a member of the New York and Washington DC bars and is active in several industry associations, including the New York City Banking Law Committee and the ABA Banking Law Committee's Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee, which she co-chairs.

Jim Wigand is the Director of the Office of Complex Financial Institutions (OCFI), FDIC. The OCFI was created to better position the FDIC to carry out its new resolution responsibilities under the recently enacted Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Prior to assuming this position, Wigand was the Deputy Director for Franchise and Asset Marketing, Division of Resolutions and Receiverships, FDIC, and oversaw the resolution of failing insured financial institutions and the sale of their assets from 1997 to 2010. 
 
From 1995 to 1997, he was the Assistant Director for Capital Markets, Division of Depositor and Asset Services, FDIC.
 
Wigand served in various executive positions at the Resolution Trust Corporation from December 1989 until its closing in December 1995.  During this period, he oversaw the Asset Management and Sales Division's loan and owned real estate management, seller financing, equity partnership and loan workout programs. He also had responsibility for receivership operations and the conclusion of RTC's conservatorship program.
 
Before RTC, Wigand worked in the Division of Liquidation, FDIC, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation's Operations and Liquidation Division, and Ferris & Company. 
 
Born in New York City, Wigand received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland and a Master of Business Administration degree with a specialization in finance from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Juliana S. O'Reilly is the Managing & Chief Bank Regulatory Counsel of American Express and sits of the leadership team of the Company's General Counsel. Juliana joined the General Counsel's Office of American Express as Vice President & Chief Bank Regulatory Counsel in June 2008. She is responsible for leading a team of 18 lawyers and other professionals who provide direct support to American Express as a bank holding company, to its major U.S. based banking entities, American Express Bank, FSB, American Express Centurion Bank and American Express Banking Corp., and to its non-bank prepaid businesses. Juliana has a primary role in working with the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in their roles as holding company supervisor for the Company. Juliana and her team also provide support for the Company's bank regulatory matters globally.

Previously, Juliana was Deputy General Counsel of E*TRADE Bank, the Vice President & Deputy General Counsel for Legislation and Regulation at Fannie Mae and a partner in the financial services practice of Venable LLP, a Washington, DC based law firm. She has served in leadership roles for various bar associations and non-profit organizations. She currently serves as Vice Chair of the American Bar Association's Banking Law Committee. She previously served a Trustee of the College Foundation of the University of Virginia and its predecessor organization, the Arts & Sciences Council for 11 years and where she chaired the Emeritus Society and the Foundation's Audit Committee. 

She graduated from the George Washington University Law School and received her Bachelors of Arts degree in History from the University of Virginia. She lives with her husband and two daughters in McLean, VA and enjoys soccer, golf and traveling with her family. 

Kathryn McCulloch is a Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel in the Legal Department of JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she is the head of the Bank Regulatory Group. The Bank Regulatory Group reviews new activities and capital investments and acquisitions, advises on the impact of U.S. regulations on existing business, prepares U.S. bank regulatory applications for the firm, serves as the primary liaison with the firm's U.S. bank regulatory agencies, and responds to inquiries from overseas regulators.
 
Kathy received her B.A. from Vassar College and her J.D. from Fordham Law School.

 

Paul L. Lee is a partner and co-chair of the banking practice at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and a member of the firm's Financial Institutions Group.

Prior to re-joining Debevoise in 2004, he was Senior Executive Vice President and General Counsel of HSBC USA Inc., where he served as the senior legal officer in the United States advising senior management in the United States and London on legal, regulatory and compliance matters. He was a member of HSBC USA's Senior Management Committee and Risk Management Committee.

From 1977 to 1980 he served as Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Special Assistant to the General Counsel of the Treasury. He served as Deputy Superintendent and Counsel of the New York State Banking Department from 1980 to 1981, before returning to private practice. In 1994, he joined Republic New York Corporation as General Counsel. (Republic New York was acquired by HSBC in 1999 and became HSBC USA Inc.)

Mr. Lee has been a member of the adjunct faculty of Columbia Law School since 2002 and was a Lecturer in Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School from 1983 to 1986. He speaks frequently on the banking industry and has written extensively on issues relating to banking and international finance. His most recent articles include The Dodd-Frank Act Orderly Liquidation Authority: Part I, 128 The Banking Law Journal 771 (October 2011), & Part II, 128 The Banking Law Journal 867 (November 2011); and Savings and Loan Holding Companies After the Dodd-Frank Act:  An Endangered Species? Part I, 129 The Banking Law Journal 147 (February 2012), & Part II, 129 The Banking Law Journal 195 (March 2012).

Mr. Lee received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 1972 where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Michigan Law Review. He served as Law Clerk to Judge Walter R. Mansfield, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1973 to 1974.

Stacie McGinn is a partner in the New York office of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.  Ms. McGinn is a leading financial services regulatory lawyer and her practice focuses on all aspects of the regulation of banks and other financial institutions. Ms. McGinn has represented financial holding companies, banks, thrifts, mortgage companies, consumer finance and insurance companies before federal and state regulatory agencies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, and examination, supervisory and enforcement matters.

Ms. McGinn has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Simpson Thacher, she served as Deputy General Counsel for the global consumer businesses of Bank of America Corporation.  Prior to joining Bank of America, Ms. McGinn was a partner in a financial services regulatory practice in Washington, D.C., where she practiced for 14 years.

Ms. McGinn received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She received her B.B.A. from Baylor University. Ms. McGinn is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.

Joanne Medero is a Managing Director at BlackRock with responsibilities for government relations and public policy.

Ms. Medero's service with BlackRock dates back to 1996, including her years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Ms. Medero joined BGI as its Global General Counsel and after more than ten years in that role, became the global head of Government Relations and Public Policy for Barclays’ investment banking and investment  management businesses.  Prior to joining BGI, Ms. Medero was a partner with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe, in their New York office, specializing in derivatives and market regulation issues. Ms. Medero also served as general counsel of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (1989-1993) and as an associate director for legal and financial affairs at the Office of Presidential Personnel, The White House, from 1986 to 1989.

Ms. Medero earned a BA degree, magna cum laude, phi beta kappa, from St. Lawrence University in 1975 and a JD degree, with honors, from the National Law Center of George Washington University in 1978.

Anna Lee Hewko, CFA, is a deputy associate director the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.  Anna Lee has worked in the Board’s supervisory policy area for fifteen years; her areas of responsibility include capital and regulatory policy; credit, market, and liquidity risk policy; and operations and information technology policy.  Anna Lee’s experience includes domestic and international regulatory capital work, including Basel II and Basel III; financial crisis response and Dodd-Frank Act implementation; and bank holding company supervisory policy. 

Anna Lee has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Johns Hopkins University.

David Ingles serves as co-head of Skadden’s Financial Institutions Group. Mr. Ingles has a diverse corporate practice representing clients on mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, corporate finance transactions and general corporate matters involving financial institutions. He has advised public and private financial institutions in negotiated and contested mergers and acquisitions, proxy contests, joint ventures, spin-offs, equity and debt offerings, and other complex corporate transactions. Mr. Ingles also regularly advises private equity firms and others seeking to invest in financial institutions.

Mr. Ingles has represented clients in a wide variety of financial institutions M&A and corporate financing transactions, including:

• Springleaf Holdings, Inc. in its $4.25 billion acquisition of OneMain Financial, Inc.;
• Deutsche Bank AG in its $1.7 billion sale of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a hotel and casino, to Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII, L.P.;
• investment funds affiliated with WL Ross & Co. LLC and the other selling shareholders in the $233 million initial public offering of Class A common stock of Talmer Bancorp, Inc.;
• BNP Paribas in the sale of its oil and gas reserve-based lending business in the U.S. and Canada to Wells Fargo;
• The Blackstone Group in its:
  • acquisition of Lendmark Financial Services Inc., a consumer lending business, from BB&T Corporation, a financial holding company; and
  • $277 million acquisition of a controlling equity stake in Exeter Finance;
• WL Ross & Co. LLC and Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. as lead investors in a $177 million equity capital raise by Cascade Bancorp;
• WL Ross & Co. LLC in connection with numerous transactions, including:
  • a $50 million equity investment in Amalgamated Bank;
  • as lead investor in a $100 million equity capital raise by Sun Bancorp, Inc.; and
  • as lead investor in a $200 million common equity private placement by First Michigan Bancorp, Inc. in connection with its acquisition of the banking operations of CF Bancorp from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as receiver;
• a consortium consisting of WL Ross & Co. LLC, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Centerbridge Capital Partners, other investors and a management team led by John Kanas, in their $900 million acquisition of the banking operations of BankUnited, FSB in an auction by the FDIC, as receiver. This deal was named “Private Equity Deal of the Year” 2009 by International Financial Law Review;
• Ford Financial Fund, L.P. in its $500 million acquisition of a 91 percent equity stake in Pacific Capital Bancorp;
• American Express Company in the $1.1 billion sale of its global private banking and correspondent banking businesses to Standard Chartered PLC;
• The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. in its $1.2 billion merger with JPMorgan Chase & Co.;
• PNBK Holdings LLC, an entity controlled by Mr. Michael Carrazza, in connection with its acquisition of a controlling stake in Patriot National Bancorp, Inc.;
• The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited, Bermuda’s largest independent bank, in:
  • a $550 million equity investment by funds affiliated with The Carlyle Group, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and other institutional investors; and
  • its exempt offering of $200 million of noncumulative perpetual limited voting preference shares, which were guaranteed by the government of Bermuda;
• Lone Star Funds in its $1.5 billion acquisition of the home lending business of CIT Group Inc.;
• Employers Holdings, Inc. in its conversion from a mutual insurance holding company to a stock corporation and its related $523 million initial public offering, and its $194 million acquisition of AmCOMP Incorporated;
• Refco Inc. and its subsidiaries in the $323 million sale of Refco’s global regulated futures brokerage business to Man Financial, Inc. in a bankruptcy auction;
• Cendant Corporation in the spin-off of its mortgage and fleet management subsidiary, PHH Corporation, and the formation of PHH Home Loans, LLC, its mortgage services joint venture with PHH Mortgage Corporation;
• North Fork Bancorporation, Inc. in numerous transactions, including its $726 million acquisition of The Trust Company of New Jersey; its $1.9 billion unsolicited exchange offer to acquire Dime Bancorp, Inc. and related proxy contest and takeover litigation; its $570 million acquisition of JSB Financial, Inc.; and its $352 million acquisition of Reliance Bancorp; and
• Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in connection with its provision of $1 billion of first-loss credit protection and up to an additional $1.1 billion of second-loss credit protection to certain affiliates of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in connection with Goldman’s establishment of certain lending operations.

Mr. Ingles regularly represents major investment banking firms as financial advisors on financial institutions M&A transactions. He also advises clients in connection with public disclosure and reporting, corporate governance and compliance matters, takeover preparedness and various other general corporate matters.

Bar Admissions

New York

Education

J.D., New York University School of Law, 1993

B.A., Loyola University of New Orleans, 1988 (cum laude)

David Meister heads Skadden’s Government Enforcement and White Collar Crime Group in New York. Having served twice in federal law enforcement — most recently as Enforcement Director of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and previously as an assistant United States attorney in the Southern District of New York — Mr. Meister has more than 25 years of experience litigating enforcement and white collar crime matters from both the prosecution and the defense perspectives. He represents financial institutions and other corporations and their boards, and individuals, in matters involving the full range of federal, state and international criminal and enforcement agencies. He has conducted numer­ous jury trials and has led internal investigations throughout his career.

Mr. Meister rejoined Skadden in 2014 after serving for nearly three years as Director of the CFTC’s Enforcement Division, where he was responsible for the overall direction of the program. Under Mr. Meister’s leadership, the CFTC conducted hundreds of investigations involving physical commodities, futures, swaps and other derivatives, and brought record numbers of enforcement actions with record sanctions. For instance, he led the CFTC’s investigation and prosecution of the first-ever Dodd-Frank Act charges; cases involving worldwide LIBOR and other benchmark manipulation; commodities market fraud and manipulation; supervision failures; unlawful trading practices; misuses of customer funds; deficient accounting and auditing; and Ponzi schemes. He also led key Dodd-Frank rule­makings, such as the prohibition against a wide range of manipulative and deceptive conduct and the whistleblower rule.

As Director, Mr. Meister worked closely with top leadership at the SEC, the DOJ and numer­ous U.S. attorneys’ offices, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other federal and state agencies and self-regulatory organizations across the country, as well as the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and financial market regulators in Europe, Asia and Australia. He served as co-chair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group of the Finan­cial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which President Obama established in 2009. Mr. Meister also was a key liaison with congressional oversight committees.

Prior to his CFTC appointment, Mr. Meister was a partner at Skadden, where he handled a broad array of high-profile white collar matters involving the securities and derivatives markets, complex accounting, insider trading, disclosures, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, tax laws and a variety of other subjects. For instance, he acted for clients in cases concern­ing the financial crisis, auction rate securities, mutual fund market timing, collateralized debt obligations, subprime mortgages and credit default swaps. Mr. Meister has extensive cross-border investigative experience and has counseled clients in the U.K., Europe and Asia concerning the impact of U.S. laws abroad. He also has routinely handled complex private litigation in parallel to white collar matters.

Mr. Meister previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, prosecuting a wide variety of cases as a member of that office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force and representing the government in numerous trials and appeals.

Education

J.D., Columbia University School of Law, 1987 (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar)

BChE, University of Delaware, 1984 (cum laude)

Bar Admissions

New York

Publications

“The Territorial Barrier to Commodity Exchange Acts Suits,” The National Law Journal, November 13, 2014

“Rule 180.1: The CFTC Targets Fraud and Manipulation,” New York Law Journal, April 7, 2014

Derek M. Bush’s practice focuses on advising domestic and international financial institutions and foreign sovereigns regarding U.S. bank regulatory matters and legislation. His advisory practice spans a wide range of matters, including new regulatory requirements imposed under the Dodd-Frank Act, restructurings, corporate governance and investments by and in banking organizations. Mr. Bush’s practice also includes representing financial institutions in connection with corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, privatizations, capital markets transactions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. He also advises financial institutions and their boards of directors, employees and shareholders in internal investigations and in enforcement proceedings involving the U.S. federal banking agencies. In his advisory, corporate and enforcement practices, Mr. Bush represents clients before the Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Banks, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the New York Department of Financial Services. 

Mr. Bush is distinguished as one of the leading financial services regulation lawyers by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 U.S., The Best Lawyers in America and IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Law Firms and recognized in Law Business Research’s The International Who’s Who of Banking Lawyers. In addition, Mr. Bush was selected as Best Lawyers’ 2014 Washington, D.C. Banking and Finance Lawyer of the Year and is listed as one of the Best Lawyers for financial services by Washingtonian magazine.

Mr. Bush is a frequent speaker on regulatory and corporate matters affecting banks and other financial institutions. His recent publications include “U.S. Regulation of International Activities of U.S. Banking Organizations” in Regulation of Foreign Banks (2012), “Resolution Planning and the Volcker Rule” in The Banker’s How to Run a Bank (2012) and ”FSOC Reproposes the Nonbank SIFI Designation Rule” in BNA’s Securities Regulation & Law Report (2011). Mr. Bush is a co-author of the Guide to Bank Underwriting, Dealing & Brokerage Activities (West, 18th ed., 2013).

Mr. Bush joined the firm in 1995 and became a partner in 2003. He received a J.D. degree, with honors, from the University of Chicago, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He received an undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Princeton University in 1989. From 1994 to 1995, Mr. Bush served as law clerk to the Honorable Emilio M. Garza of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Mr. Bush is a member of the Bar in the District of Columbia. His native language is English, and he speaks Spanish and Swedish.

Lynne Barr is a partner in Goodwin Procter's Financial Institutions Group and chair of its Banking and Consumer Financial Services Practices. Her practice focuses on banking and consumer financial services law. She advises banks, bank holding companies, brokerage firms, mortgage companies, trade associations and other entities on general corporate matters, including the offering and operation of their products and services, particularly in the context of federal and state regulation of financial institutions and their activities. Ms. Barr has extensive experience in credit and mortgage lending matters (including licensing, disclosure, documentation, interest rate limitations and credit reporting), credit and debit card operations, fair lending and equal credit opportunity issues, credit and deposit services, electronic banking, Internet and mobile financial services, privacy and data security, and insurance products.

Work for Clients

Ms. Barr advises financial institutions on transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions and conversions from mutual to stock form; regulatory, compliance and enforcement issues; the operation of payments networks; and the offering of all types of financial service and payment products. She conducts contract negotiations for product development, branding, licensing, automated clearinghouse, computer and processing systems, and network agreements. She regularly advises clients on the numerous federal and state laws affecting banking and consumer financial services and represents clients on federal and state legislative and regulatory matters before government agencies.

Professional Activities

Ms. Barr is a former Chair of the American Bar Association's Business Law Section and a member of its Council. She is also a delegate to the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Business Lawyer, the Section's scholarly journal. Ms. Barr is the former chair of the ABA's Consumer Financial Services Committee. In addition, she is the former chair of the Financial Holding Company Subcommittee of the ABA's Banking Law Committee and the ABA's Consumer Financial Services Subcommittees on Deposit Accounts and Programs.

Ms. Barr is a Fellow and past President of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association and chair of the Consumer Bankers Association Lawyers Committee. Ms. Barr is also a member of the American Law Institute.

Thought Leadership

Ms. Barr is a frequent speaker on banking and consumer financial services issues for trade association and legal education seminars. She is the author of numerous articles on banking, consumer credit, EFTs and deposit account issues.

Professional Experience

Prior to entering private practice, Ms. Barr was a senior attorney in the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, where she worked on consumer credit, electronic funds transfer and consumer leasing matters.

Recognition

In 2010, Ms. Barr was the recipient of the Senator William Proxmire Lifetime Achievement Award. Given by the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers, the award is granted to a person who has made significant contributions in the field of consumer financial services. In 2005, Ms. Barr received the prestigious Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award from the American Bar Association Business Law Section, presented annually to an exceptional woman business lawyer who has made a significant contribution both to the profession and to the Section of Business Law.

Ms. Barr has been selected for inclusion in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, U.S. News-Best Lawyers and The Legal 500 U.S.

Education

• J.D., The George Washington University Law School, 1975 (with honors)
• B.A., The George Washington University, 1972 Ms. Barr also attended the University of California at Berkeley.

Bar and Court Admissions

Ms. Barr is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the District of Columbia.

Mark Welshimer is a senior member of the Firm’s Financial Services and Corporate Finance Groups, having for many years been the Deputy Managing Partner of the Financial Services Group. Mr. Welshimer’s practice focuses on capital markets activities, bank regulatory and securities law advice, and structured financings, with a particular focus on new products. In recent years, he has been deeply involved in advising both U.S. and non-U.S. clients with respect to bank regulatory reform and has represented The Clearing House Association in connection with many of its advocacy efforts, particularly relating to capital, liquidity and resolution matters. Over the years, Mr. Welshimer represented most of the nation’s largest financial institutions, or their underwriters, in capital-raising transactions and, during the recent period has been deeply involved in advising clients with respect to bank regulatory reform.

Mr. Welshimer has extensive experience representing financial institutions more generally in commercial transactions. He was one of the founding members of S&C’s securitization practice and represented issuers or underwriters in a number of “first-time” transactions, including the first public automobile loan securitization, the first public commercial real estate loan securitization, the first funded C&I loan securitization and the first public good bank/bad bank transaction. He has extensive experience representing financial institutions more generally in commercial transactions and regulatory matters.

Mr. Welshimer was recognized as a 2007 “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer for his representation of major financial institutions in their capital-raising efforts. He has also been recognized as a leading lawyer in numerous other publications.

Rankings and Recognitions

PRACTICES & CAPABILITIES

Bank Regulatory Financial Services Broker-Dealer

Commodities, Futures & Derivatives

Capital Markets, Leveraged Finance & Lending

Structured Finance

Equity & Debt Capital Markets

Payment Systems 

EDUCATION

1976, Harvard Law School, J.D.

1973, Harvard University, A.B.

BAR ADMISSIONS

New York

Randall D. Guynn is a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell and has been head of its Financial Institutions Group since 1994.  He is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading bank regulatory and bank M&A lawyers, and a thought leader on financial regulatory reform. He was named Banking Lawyer of the Year and the Most Highly Regarded Banking Lawyer in the World in 2014 and again in 2017 by Law Business Research’s International Who’s Who of Banking Lawyers and one of the 10 most innovative lawyers in the United States by the Financial Times in 2013.  He is currently ranked as a Star Individual in Banking (Compliance) and Band 1 in Financial Institution M&A Chambers USA 2018.  He was also named a Banking Thought Leader in Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders for 2017 and 2018.  The group he heads was named the "Financial Regulation Team of the Year" for two years in a row (2014, 2015) by the International Financial Law Review.

Mr. Guynn has advised the Bank Policy Institute (formerly The Clearing House Association) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the principal trade organizations for U.S. banks, all eight of the largest U.S. banks, many of the most important foreign banks and a number of U.S. regional, mid-size,community and fintech banks. He played a key role in developing the single point-of-entry resolution strategy, which has been widely accepted as the most credible solution to the too-big-to-fail problem.  In addition to regulatory reform, his practice focuses on providing strategic bank regulatory advice and advising on M&A and capital markets transactions when the target or issuer is a banking organization or other financial institution. He also advises on regulatory enforcement actions and white collar criminal defense, bank failures and recapitalizations, corporate governance and internal controls, cross-border collateral transactions, credit risk management, securities settlement systems and payment systems.

Valerie L. Hletko, partner in the Washington, DC, office of BuckleySandler LLP, represents institutions and individual clients in complex civil litigation and class actions. She also represents clients in connection with regulatory examinations, investigations, and administrative enforcement actions initiated by the DOJ, FDIC, FRB, CFPB, HUD, and state bank regulatory agencies and state Attorneys General.

Ms. Hletko counsels clients on risk management, fair lending, loss mitigation and residential mortgage loan modification programs, and compliance with consumer financial laws, such as FCRA, ECOA, HMDA, FDCPA, RESPA, TILA, and prohibitions on unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices in Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (UDAP) and Section 1036 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (UDAAP).

Ms. Hletko lectures and publishes on a range of subjects of interest to financial institutions, including fair and responsible banking practices, specialty finance, vendor management, and regulatory enforcement trends.

Ms. Hletko received her B.A. from Kenyon College (magna cum laude), her M.T.S. from Harvard University, and her J.D. from the University of Chicago.

PRACTICE AREAS

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Class Actions

Fair & Responsible Banking Government Enforcement Litigation

Mortgage Servicing Regulatory Examinations

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act Specialty Finance

Unfair, Deceptive & Abusive Acts and Practices

Vendor Management & Transactions

BAR ADMISSIONS

District of Columbia New York

U.S. District Court (DC)

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana

U.S. Supreme Court

Lee Meyerson specializes in mergers and acquisitions and in capital markets transactions for financial institutions. Lee, who is Head of the Firm’s Financial Institutions Practice and former head of its M&A Group, has participated in many of the largest U.S. financial services mergers of the past decade, including representing JPMorgan Chase & Co. in its $58 billion merger with Bank One, Mellon Financial in its $16.8 billion merger with The Bank of New York and The Toronto-Dominion Bank in its acquisitions of Commerce Bancorp ($8.5 billion), Chrysler Financial ($6.3 billion) and Target’s credit card portfolio ($5.9 billion). His transactions over the past several years also include representing KeyCorp in its $4 billion acquisition of First Niagara, JPMorgan Chase in the $3.5 billion sale of its global physical commodities business, private equity investors in their $1 billion investment in Banco Santander’s U.S. auto finance business and its subsequent IPO, The Charles Schwab Corporation in its $1 billion acquisition of optionsXpress, The Carlyle Group in its acquisition of the TCW Group (a $130 billion AUM asset manager) and Blackstone and Carlyle in their majority investment in First Eagle (a $90 billion AUM asset manager). At the height of the financial crisis in October 2008, he represented the U.S. Treasury in connection with developing, structuring and documenting its $250 billion TARP program for purchasing equity in U.S. financial institutions. In addition, during this period he represented a broad variety of bank bidders and investor consortiums in recapitalization transactions and FDIC failed bank auctions.

Lee’s capital markets practice includes IPOs and a broad range of debt and equity offerings for banks, thrifts, insurance companies and other financial services companies. He has been ranked as one of the leading M&A and banking lawyers in the United States in a number of recent surveys, including The American Lawyer, which selected him as a "Dealmaker of the Year" for both 2008 (no. 4) and 2005, Chambers USA 2016 Guide to America’s Leading Lawyers for Business (Financial Institutions M&A – Band 1; Financial Services Regulation – Band 3), Who’s Who Legal (“Top 10” lawyer in Banking 2015), and The Legal 500 US 2015 (Leading lawyer in Financial Services: Regulatory and M&A: mega-deals).

Lee joined Simpson Thacher in 1981 and became a partner in 1989. He received his A.B., magna cum laude, from Duke University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was an editor of the New York University Law Review.

Nicholas G. Demmo joined Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in 1997 and was elected partner in 2004. Mr. Demmo focuses on M&A transactions and other critical situations involving banks and other financial institutions, and he has a broad range of experience in complex transactional, securities, private equity, regulatory, governance, activism and compliance matters. Mr. Demmo has worked on numerous public and private company acquisitions, corporate control contests, securities offerings, corporate governance matters and joint venture transactions.

Mr. Demmo received his B.A. in economics from Yale University in 1993 and his J.D. from The University of Pennsylvania in 1996, where he served on the Journal of International Economic Law and was a member of the Order of the Coif. Following graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Dean D. Pregerson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

W. Grant Gregory, Jr. runs the North America Bank Group within Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley. Since first joining the firm in 1993, Grant has principally been involved in providing advice to financial institutions as it relates to mergers, acquisitions and capital markets transactions. Through the fiscal crisis and its aftermath Morgan Stanley raised nearly $80 billion to help recapitalize the banking system. Grant helped lead the capital raising effort for several banking clients, including common equity raises for SunTrust, Fifth Third, KeyCorp, Commerce Bancshares, Hancock Holdings, First Horizon, TCF Financial, BancorpSouth, Private Bancorp, Texas Capital and South Financial. In addition, several of Grant’s clients such as EverBank, Regions Financial, Fifth Third, Texas Capital, SunTrust and TCF Financial have also recently issued non-cumulative perpetual preferred to augment their regulatory capital levels. Select strategic advisory assignments for Mr. Gregory include: SunTrust’s divestiture of student loans, Hancock Holdings’ acquisition of Whitney, South Financial’s sale to Toronto Dominion, Advent’s acquisition of a majority interest in Vantiv from Fifth Third, KeyCorp’s sale of MacDonald to UBS, Regions Financial’s sale of Capital Factors, Community First’s sale to BancWest, Union Planters’ sale to Regions Financial, and BBVA’s acquisitions of Compass, Texas Regional and State National. Grant graduated with distinction from Dartmouth College and the Harvard Business School.

William J. Sweet, Jr. is head of Skadden’s Financial Institutions Regulation and Enforcement Group and concentrates in financial institution merger and acquisition, regulatory, and enforcement matters. Before joining the firm, he was a staff attorney with the Federal Reserve Board, where he handled bank holding company regulatory, litigation and enforcement matters. 

Mr. Sweet represents U.S., Asian, European and Latin American banking, securities and other financial institutions and their boards of directors on the strategic, policy and regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions, negotiated investments, joint ventures, restructuring transactions, bankruptcies and receiverships. He also advises private equity firms and others seeking to invest in regulated financial institutions.
In addition, Mr. Sweet regularly advises financial institutions on compliance and enforcement issues with respect to a broad range of governance, risk management, money laundering compliance, Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions, fair lending, consumer, CRA and other matters, including representation before federal and state regulatory and enforcement agencies. 

He represents financial institutions before the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the U.S. Department of the Treasury and other financial regulatory agencies on a wide range of rulings, interpretations and approvals.

Mr. Sweet was recognized as one of the “Most Influential Lawyers” in finance and capital markets by The National Law Journal in 2011. He has been named as a “star individual” in the Financial Services Regulation — Banking Compliance category and ranked in the top tier in the Financial Services Regulation — Financial Institutions M&A area by Chambers USA. Mr. Sweet also has been ranked as a “star individual” for Banking & Finance: Mainly Regulatory in Chambers Global. According to Chambers USA, “he is considered to be one of the world’s leading banking lawyers and has been instrumental in advising a number of the firm’s leading financial services clients in relation to Dodd-Frank, regulatory compliance and transactions.” 

He also has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Banking Lawyers, IFLR1000, The Legal 500 U.S. and The International Who’s Who of Banking Lawyers. Mr. Sweet was named Best Lawyers’ 2015 “Washington, D.C. Banking and Finance Lawyer of the Year” and he was included in Washingtonian Magazine’s 2013 “Best Lawyers” list. He writes on banking issues and appears frequently at seminars on financial institution mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues and enforcement matters.

Director, Governance, Risk and Regulatory Strategies 

Chris Spoth joined Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Banking & Securities Regulatory Practice as director in 2012. He is advising financial institutions on regulatory remediation matters generally, and on Dodd-Frank initiatives.

Prior to joining Deloitte, he was senior deputy director of the division of risk management at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – a position that involved direct relationships with the FDIC chairman and board members, as well as with other banking regulatory agencies, senior officials at the Department of the Treasury, and Congress. 

Chris has extensive knowledge of regulatory programs for safety and soundness, consumer compliance, and bank failure resolutions. Chris oversaw the FDIC’s examinations, enforcement actions, applications, consumer protection, and anti-money laundering programs at more than 4,600 banks nationwide. Previously, he was regional director of the FDIC’s New York region, and earlier he led the agency’s international department. He joined the FDIC in 1980.

Mr. Alexander represents financial services companies and their officers and directors, as well as accountants, attorneys, and other professionals, in significant enforcement or investigative proceedings brought by federal or state agencies. He has led the firm's representation of clients in high profile matters initiated by, among others, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

Mr. Alexander's practice includes representing financial service companies with respect to a wide range of issues arising out of the supervisory process. He has extensive experience in federal anti-money laundering laws and frequently counsels clients on the bank examination process. Mr. Alexander also has significant experience with respect to issues arising out of the conservatorship or receivership of regulated financial service companies.  He regularly is called upon to counsel clients with respect to complex corporate governance issues, often representing Boards of Directors or their Audit and Special Committees. He has conducted many internal or independent investigations into alleged accounting fraud, legal, ethical, and internal control violations, self-dealing, and other wrongdoings.