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Financial Services Report - Fall 2021

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We start this issue with a big, virtual welcome to our new colleague Maria Earley. Maria joined us last month as a partner in our Financial Services and Fintech Groups. She represents financial services and fintech companies in product development,

We are Morrison Foerster — a global firm of exceptional credentials. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, investment banks, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Our lawyers are committed to achieving innovative and business-minded results for our clients, while preserving the differences that make us stronger.Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

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We start this issue with a big, virtual welcome to our new colleague Maria Earley. Maria joined us last month as a partner in our Financial Services and Fintech Groups. She represents financial services and fintech companies in product development, regulatory compliance, state and federal enforcement and examination, state licensing, and transactional matters. She was a CFPB enforcement attorney for three years before going to private practice. We are thrilled to have Maria join us. Look for her to join our editorial team for the next Report.Until then, stay well and read on for all the news in Beltway, Bureau, Operations, Privacy, Arbitration, TCPA, BSA/AML, etc.!Read our <a target="_blank" href="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/assets/blt5775cc69c999c255/blt4a929f195056fa8f/6273efbe23c6cf2a1c3b0e88/210914-financial-services-report-fall-2021.pdf">newsletter</a>.

Financial Services Report - Fall 2021

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Recognized as an authority on financial privacy issues, Nathan helps financial institutions and other companies develop practical solutions for complying with privacy and data security laws. In particular, Nathan tackles the most complex issues relating to the privacy and security of financial information.Co-author of the leading financial privacy treatise, The Law of Financial Privacy, Nathan is recognized in the industry for his exceptional legal work, including being named as an Up and Coming Nationwide Privacy & Data Security practitioner on Chambers USA’s 2018, 2019, and 2020 lists. In his many accolades, his clients praise him as “a tremendous lawyer” who is “smart and quick on his feet,” with a “strong depth of knowledge and experience.” Nathan is also known as “a go-to guy for a deeper dive on bank privacy issues, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other matters. When he gives you a memo, it is gold-plated – you know that you can rely upon it and that it will be thoughtful” (Chambers USA 2021). Nathan is ranked in Chambers USA and Chambers Global 2021, with clients noting his exceptional work in financial privacy law, proficiency at handling various governmental investigations, and his “deep well of knowledge, which he delivers in a well-organised, thoughtful and extremely helpful manner."As state privacy law appears to be entering a new era with the adoption of the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”), Nathan is assisting many banks, insurance companies, broker dealers, and other financial institutions in making sense of the complex law and the challenges presented by significant, but often confusing, new privacy obligations. Given the breadth of his work on CCPA issues, Nathan provides clients with valuable benchmarking across the financial industry.Nathan also continues to help companies across industries develop solutions to comply with the myriad state data breach and data security laws that have been enacted since 2003. Understanding the complexities that businesses face in complying with these laws, Nathan testified before Congress on the <a href="https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/02.14.2018_nathan_taylor_testimony.pdf" target="_blank">challenges</a> that the ever-growing patchwork of state laws present. These are complexities that he understands intimately, having advised companies on hundreds of significant data incidents, including many of the nation’s largest and highest-profile data breaches.Nathan also has defended companies in Congressional and state AG investigations regarding privacy and data security. He represented Target in its defense of a multistate AG investigation into the company’s 2013 data breach, resulting in a settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia, at the time the largest-ever multistate settlement for a data security incident.Nathan contributes to the development of the firm’s <a href="/privacy-library/">Privacy Library</a> and MoFoNotes subscription database, which help companies keep apprised of privacy and data security compliance requirements in jurisdictions around the world.

Nathan Taylor

Partner

Marc-Alain’s practice focuses on advising and counseling domestic and foreign financial institutions on a variety of bank regulatory, Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT), and transactional matters. Marc-Alain has significant experience representing global financial institutions in criminal and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions as well as addressing weaknesses and shortcomings in their BSA/AML compliance frameworks. He also advises clients on all AML-related issues in connection with ESG, M&A, strategic investments and private equity funds, embedded finance, blockchain and digital assets, and other corporate transactions. Marc-Alain is adept at assisting clients to build ground up BSA/AML policies and procedures, and he works closely with banks and fintechs to navigate BSA/AML considerations related to Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and other partnership arrangements.Further, Marc-Alain has significant experience in advising and counseling U.S. and international bank holding companies, banks, and other financial institutions on a variety of bank regulatory and transactional matters, including matters relating to:<ul><li>The Bank Holding Company Act</li><li>Regulation K and Y</li><li>The Bank Merger Act</li><li>The Dodd–Frank Act (with regard to the Volcker Rule, Living Wills, and Enhanced Prudential Standards, among others)</li><li>Applications to federal and state banking regulators for expansion of activities</li><li>Internal restructuring</li><li>New products, sales, and acquisitions of U.S. banks</li></ul>Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Marc-Alain was an associate with two prominent global United States law firms, and he practiced law in Switzerland for several years.Marc-Alain is a member of the board of the Swiss American Lawyers Association of Greater New York (SALA). He is fluent in German, English, French, and Spanish and has a basic knowledge of Italian. He is admitted to practice in New York and Switzerland.

Marc-Alain Galeazzi

Jessica Kaufman is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster's New York office, specializing in complex class actions and commercial litigation. Her trial practice includes representing clients on both sides of a wide variety of business disputes in arbitral fora and federal and state courts. She has deep expertise in class actions and mass tort litigation spanning consumer, environmental, RICO, and data privacy matters. Clients regularly seek Jessica out for creative, strategic thinking as lead and coordinating counsel in nationwide "bet the company" matters.Ms. Kaufman represents financial institutions and other clients facing claims under the federal and state contract and antitrust laws, RICO Act, Right to Financial Privacy Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and state unfair and deceptive practices statutes. She also regularly advises and represents clients in complex commercial disputes. Recent representative matters include the defense of a leading marketplace lender in a putative nationwide class action under state usury laws; a major consumer products company in multi-district antitrust litigation; a major shipping company defending against contract and UDAAP claims in connection with fee disclosures; and a lingerie company facing consumer protection claims, including claims of false advertising. Ms. Kaufman routinely represents emerging and established financial institutions in actions involving overdraft fees and other deposit, loan, and credit card product fees, disclosures, and practices.Ms. Kaufman is recommended by Legal 500 2018 in the area of Dispute Resolution: Financial Services: Litigation. She received her B.A., with high honors, from Indiana University, Bloomington, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2006, where she was a Dean's Merit Scholar and founded the Education Law and Policy Society. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Kaufman was a Teach For America corps member and later served on the national staff of that organization.

Jessica Kaufman

Jeremy Mandell is the co-chair of our Financial Services Group. His practice focuses on financial services regulation, with particular attention to payment and emerging payment issues.Jeremy advises bank, non-bank, and fintech clients on financial services regulatory issues, including issues arising under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. He has particular experience working on issues related to interbank and emerging payments systems, including blockchain-based payment solutions and stablecoin platforms. He has counseled clients with award-winning apps and innovative products and services on complex issues, bringing a practical, broad-market perspective to product development, ongoing compliance needs, and regulatory engagement.He also has extensive experience working with banks and non-banks on strategic partnerships. As partnerships between banks and fintechs become more prevalent, Jeremy draws on this experience to advise clients on the financial services regulatory and commercial issues that arise in the context of these partnerships.Jeremy is co-editor of The Consumer Finance Law Review, surveying the legal and regulatory approaches to consumer finance law in jurisdictions around the world.Before joining Morrison Foerster, he served as a senior financial services analyst at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems, where he focused on policy issues related to large-value payments systems. Jeremy leverages this experience to advise clients on various legal and regulatory issues.Jeremy earned his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School in 2010. He earned his M.A. in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University in 2004 and his B.A in economics and international relations from Lehigh University in 2001.

Jeremy Mandell

Co-Chair of Financial Services Group

Natalie Fleming Nolen is the Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office and a partner in the Litigation Department. She is a trial lawyer and advocate who focuses on complex civil litigation and regulatory proceedings, with a particular emphasis on resolving antitrust issues and class actions that arise in the financial services industry. She has represented clients in trials in state and federal court, as well as administrative proceedings and arbitration forums. Natalie's recent matters include representing a financial institution in a large multidistrict antitrust class action litigation and related litigation by individual companies that opted out of the class action; a leading telecommunications company in merger litigation and related regulatory proceedings; clients in consumer class actions and complex commercial litigation alleging breaches of contract; clients in complex antitrust arbitrations; clients before federal agencies, such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission; and large companies being investigated by state regulatory authorities. Natalie also advises clients on a variety of commercial real estate issues, including complex contractual matters, foreclosures, and disputes regarding commercial leases. Natalie also has an active pro bono practice. She led a trial team in a challenge to Title IX rules related to sexual harassment and assault in schools; represented several clients in Immigration Court and successfully obtained asylum and withholding of removal; and helped young clients obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. She also successfully obtained humanitarian parole for Haitian women and children impacted by the devastating earthquake in 2010, and represented clients in housing matters including defending against a foreclosure action in two separate trials in New York State Supreme Court. In acknowledgment of her dedication to providing quality pro bono representation, Natalie was awarded the 2012 New York State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award in the young lawyer category, and was also awarded the Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Service in 2015.Natalie recently became a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Natalie Fleming Nolen

Tiffani Figueroa's practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and financial services litigation. Ms. Figueroa’s experience includes matters involving federal and state contract and antitrust laws, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), as well as state unfair and deceptive practices statutes.Ms. Figueroa also maintains an active pro bono practice. She has been involved in defending against a condominium board in a foreclosure action, as well as defending against an apartment complex in a housing discrimination matter.Ms. Figueroa received her B.A. from Georgetown University. She earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Hofstra University School of Law, where she was a notes and comments editor for the Hofstra Law Review. While in law school, Ms. Figueroa was a judicial intern for the Honorable Robert P. Patterson, Jr., of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She served as law clerk to the Honorable LaShann DeArcy Hall of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York from April 2017 – April 2018.

Tiffani Figueroa

Of Counsel

Calvin Funk is an associate in the Financial Services Group of Morrison & Foerster’s Washington, D.C. office.Mr. Funk’s practice focuses on assisting clients with state and federal retail financial services regulatory matters. He counsels bank and non-bank lenders, service providers, and other financial technology companies to help bring innovative products and services to market. Mr. Funk works closely with clients to understand their business needs and advise on complex regulatory issues including lending issues under the Truth in Lending Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act; and payment issues under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Credit CARD Act, and state money transmitter laws.Mr. Funk has particular experience with state consumer finance laws in all fifty states, including state lending, loan brokering, credit services, and debt collection laws. He regularly counsels clients on the nature and applicability of state consumer finance laws to clients’ proposed or existing business practices. He assists clients through all phases of the regulatory process, including obtaining necessary licenses, building compliant policies and procedures, navigating change-of-control processes, and responding to regulatory inquiries and examinations.Mr. Funk graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. During law school, Mr. Funk served as an editor of the Virginia Tax Review, as well as a Dillard Fellow of Legal Research and Writing. He was previously a summer associate at Morrison & Foerster.Mr. Funk received his B.A. magna cum laude from Brigham Young University.

Calvin Dennis Funk

Associate

Adam J. Hunt is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and commercial litigation.Mr. Hunt has extensive experience representing consumer products companies, financial institutions, and technology firms in class action cases and complex commercial disputes before state and federal trial courts, as well as in arbitrations. Clients seek Mr. Hunt’s counsel for his creative, strategic thinking in high-stakes, high-profile matters. He has represented clients facing claims under false advertising, antitrust, and privacy laws throughout the country, securing wins at the pleading stage, summary judgment, and trial, in addition to negotiating favorable settlements, often early in the case. Representative experience includes successfully securing rulings dismissing two putative false advertising class action cases against one of the best-known consumer electronics companies in the world; obtaining a complete win on summary judgment for a major shipping and logistics company in a multimillion-dollar commercial dispute; appearing as counsel at trial for a leading financial institution in a $100 million commercial dispute, winning a bench trial verdict; and prevailing on motions to dismiss false advertising class actions against a leading Greek yogurt company.Mr. Hunt is also an editor of the firm’s <a href="https://classdismissed.mofo.com/" target="_self">Class Dismissed blog</a>, which provides insights, recommendations, and timely reports on the latest defense news, developments, and trends in the most current class action lawsuits that affect consumer-facing companies.Mr. Hunt maintains an active pro bono practice and is the recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s 2017 President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the First Judicial Department, the 2018 Public Service Award from New York University School of Law, and Morrison Foerster’s Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Services.Mr. Hunt received his B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College and his J.D. cum laude from New York University.

Adam Hunt

Malka Levitin is an associate in the Financial Services Practice Group. Her practice focuses on advising banks, bank holding companies, fintechs, and other financial services clients on a wide range of regulatory and transactional matters, including those involving money transmission, the regulation of crypto-assets, and the Bank Holding Company Act. She also has extensive experience with anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism issues under the Bank Secrecy Act. Malka maintains an active and varied pro bono practice, and has handled multiple cases involving religious rights under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.Malka graduated from Columbia Law School, where she was a staff editor for the Journal of Transnational Law. She received her B.A. summa cum laude from Queens College. Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster, Malka was an associate at another international law firm.