Financial Services

Recognized as a preeminent practice by Chambers, Law360, Legal 500, Best Lawyers in America, and other publications, Covington’s financial institutions practice is widely recognized as one of the leading practices in the United States. For more than 60 years, Covington has advised financial services firms on all types of regulatory, enforcement, transactional, and consumer protection matters.

Covington represents a broad range of clients in the financial services industry, including depository institutions and their holding companies, securities firms, private equity firms, government-sponsored enterprises, investment banks, money service businesses, and major financial services trade associations, as well as clients in other industries affected by financial services laws and regulations.

We advise financial services clients on a wide range of legal and regulatory issues, including:

• Permissible structures and activities, branching, and regulatory conversions
• Regulation of foreign banking organizations
• Regulatory capital requirements
• Preemption counseling and litigation
• Anti-money laundering compliance
• Transactions with affiliates and insiders
• Recovery and resolution planning
• Compliance with the Volcker Rule restrictions on proprietary trading and investment fund affiliations
• Privacy and data security
• Electronic banking and commerce

We practice before the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and state bank regulatory agencies, as well as the United States Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Homeland Security. In many instances, we have confronted long-standing obstacles facing the banking industry and have shaped novel solutions that have received regulatory approval. We frequently serve as a sounding board to financial institutions interested in developing new and innovative products.

We have been closely involved in all aspects of financial regulatory reform, leading to the enactment and ongoing implementation of the landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. A multi-disciplinary group of Covington attorneys has been closely following the implementation process and advising clients on a multitude of legal issues and best practices arising from it.