Financial Regulation

Fried Frank's Financial Regulation Practice regularly represents a full range of regulated financial organizations with respect to important regulatory, risk management, and compliance considerations that affect their business. Our financial regulatory capabilities include advising commercial and investment banks, broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, money transmitters and payment providers, licensed lenders, cryptocurrency exchanges, and fintech companies, among others, on:

Chartering and licensing
Regulatory compliance
Mergers and acquisitions
Reorganizations
Regulatory actions and litigations
Legislative and regulatory developments

Our work frequently involves advising financial organizations in complying with relevant federal and state regulatory agencies, including the SEC, FINRA, CFTC, NFA, the federal banking agencies (Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC), the CFPB, and FinCEN. We actively advise clients in connection with governmental and self-regulatory organization inquiries, enforcement investigations, and proceedings. Our team is global, and we advise on the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID/MiFID II), and the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR). Our lawyers are an important voice in the financial regulatory landscape, providing unparalleled analysis and interpretation in an increasingly complex and highly regulated marketplace. Our acclaimed legal website, Fried Frank Regulatory Intelligence, is an invaluable tool to government regulators and major buy- and sell-side firms, and has been endorsed by former chairpersons of both the SEC and CFTC.

Bank Regulatory Practice

Fried Frank provides a practical and pragmatic approach to navigating the complex landscape of banking regulation. We seek to translate even the most technical issues into actionable guidance. We represent banks and other regulated financial institutions particularly at the intersection between private equity and the banking industry with respect to:

Regulatory actions and compliance
Chartering
Investigations
Litigations and claims
Mergers and acquisitions
Reorganizations
Financial transactions
Legislative developments

We interact with the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the banking agencies across the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. We actively counsel funds and other parties seeking to invest in or acquire banks and other licensed financial service providers.

Our Bank Regulatory Practice is closely aligned with the firmwide resources of Fried Frank including M&A and private equity, litigation, privacy and data security, REITs, securities, derivatives, commodities regulation, insurance regulation, trade finance and sanctions, tax, debt financing and securitization, structured finance and employee benefits.