North America - United States • Finance

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

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Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a strong choice for banks undergoing restructuring measures, and is also able to assist with regulations that apply to foreign banks in addition to advising non-bank financial institutions, including insurers, fintechs and broker-dealers on the formation of banking operations. The firm also represents clients facing enforcement actions, including those tied to AML, securities and sanctions compliance regulations. These are areas of expertise for Washington DC-based practice co-head Satish Kini, who represents banks and trade associations in matters ranging from OFAC investigations to regulatory issues arising out of transactions. New York’s Gregory Lyons heads the team alongside him, focusing on advising on the establishment of banking entities in addition to assisting with investigations launched by the likes of the Federal Reserve Board, the OCC and SEC among others. Caroline Swett, also based in New York, straddles transactional and regulatory matters, advising on bank M&A in addition to supporting clients with Regulation W matters, as well as supervisory examinations and downgrades. Counsel Alison Hashmall is noted for her cryptocurrency practice, while Chen Xu handles a range of bank regulatory issues; both are located in New York.

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Key clients

  • Bank of New York Mellon
  • BMO Financial
  • Citibank
  • Credit Suisse
  • Edward Jones Trust Company
  • Fifth Third Bancorp
  • Financial Services Forum
  • Institute for International Bankers
  • J.P. Morgan
  • Key Bank
  • M&T Bank Corporation
  • Mizuho Bank
  • Northern Trust Company
  • Prudential Financial
  • Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
  • The Risk Management Association
  • Santander Holdings USA

Work highlights

  • Assisted M&T Bank Corporation and its subsidiary, Wilmington Trust, N.A. in the sale of WTNA’s Collective Investment Trust business to funds affiliated with Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC.
  • Advised Edward Jones Trust Company on the regulatory implications of adjusting fees on certain non-discretionary IRAs managed by its affiliate.

Lawyers

Leading lawyers

Satish Kini

Satish Kini

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

 Mr. Kini advises on a wide range of regulatory and transactional issues. For example, he has: represented large financial services firms in transactional matters, including to secure regulatory approvals for transactions from U.S. federal and state bank regulatory agencies and to develop compliance frameworks for various business combinations; counseled banks, securities firms, insurers and asset managers in a broad range of regulatory and compliance issues, ranging from the Volcker Rule to affiliate transactions, anti-money laundering, economic sanctions and data privacy/security; represented clients in adversarial proceedings before the federal bank regulatory agencies and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), including in investigations, enforcement proceedings and adverse examination contexts; and advised clients on regulatory and compliance issues arising out of cross-border transactions and outsourcing arrangements, including with respect to sanctions and money laundering issues. In the context of these matters, Mr. Kini has led internal fact investigations of clients (involving allegations of data breaches/fraud, money laundering and sanctions compliance issues) and advised clients on compliance governance and structuring. He also has briefed senior business decision-makers and boards of directors, based in the United States and abroad, on important regulatory, enforcement and investigations matters. Mr. Kini has represented a wide range of firms (including banks, securities broker-dealers, insurers and asset managers) and leading industry trade associations on regulatory reform issues, including those arising out of the Dodd-Frank Act, and has assisted clients to participate in the policymaking process before federal regulators. He has helped to create industry coalitions to advocate for regulatory positions and to arrive at consensus interpretations on difficult issues. He also has testified on Dodd-Frank issues before Congress and has represented clients on Dodd-Frank and other matters before the federal banking agencies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Stability Oversight Council and the U.S. Treasury Department and its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Gregory Lyons

Gregory Lyons

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

His practice focuses on serving the needs of financial institutions, as well as private equity and other entities that invest in financial institutions, with a particular emphasis on domestic and cross-border bank regulatory, transactional and examination matters. His practice includes U.S. and foreign bank regulatory, formation, merger, conversion, structuring securities and securities finance work, risk capital and trust matters and corporate and securities law matters. Mr. Lyons has represented banking and other financial institutions before the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and state banking and securities regulatory agencies. He has extensive experience counseling clients in the securities, securities finance, insurance and other non-banking financial service sectors regarding acquiring, leveraging and ongoing ownership of banking institutions, as well as advising banking organizations with non-traditional banking activities and assisting clients in the analysis of associated business and regulatory risks.

Next Generation Partners

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Satish Kini, Gregory Lyons

Other key lawyers

Jeff Robins, Caroline Swett, Alison Hashmall, Chen Xu