Andrew M. Smith is Partner in Morrison & Foerster’s Washington, D.C. office. He counsels various financial institutions on the full range of consumer financial services law issues. In particular, he advises clients on: financial privacy issues relating to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act), and Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act; consumer lending issues under the the Equal Credit Opportunity Act; and state and federal laws prohibiting unfair and deceptive trade practices.

Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Mr. Smith served as the FACT Act Program Manager in the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, where he directed numerous rulemaking proceedings governing, among other things, the obligations of creditors and credit bureaus with respect to identity theft victims, the use of prescreened solicitations to market credit and insurance, the proper disposal of consumer information, the sharing of information among affiliated companies, and the provision of free annual credit reports to consumers. Mr. Smith also supervised the drafting and publication of several FTC studies of the credit reporting industry and the accuracy of information in credit reports. Mr. Smith also has served as an Assistant to the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, where he advised the Director on a wide range of issues relating to consumer financial services and privacy, and coordinated the FTC’s legislative efforts to enact the FACT Act in 2003.

Before his stint at the FTC, Mr. Smith was in private practice in Washington, D.C., counseling businesses on consumer financial services issues and representing clients before federal regulatory agencies and in the federal courts. He has successfully represented financial services and consumer products companies in FTC enforcement actions and in consumer class actions. Mr. Smith also served as a staff attorney, Senior Counsel, and Acting Assistant General Counsel at the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he directed the writing of SEC decisions involving investment advisers, broker-dealers, and accountants.

Mr. Smith is a frequent speaker at conferences on privacy, data security and FCRA issues. He is involved in the American Bar Association, serving as Chair of the Federal & State Trade Practices Subcommittee of the Consumer Financial Services Committee. He also actively participates in the Privacy and Consumer Protection Committees of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Section.

Mr. Smith received his B.A. from Williams College in 1987 and his J.D. from the College of William & Mary in 1994, where he was Professional Articles Editor of the Law Review. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia.