Ranked among the leading practices in the United States, the Debevoise Banking Group advises banks and other financial institutions (e.g., broker-dealers and investment advisors) on the gamut of regulatory, litigation and transactional matters. Debevoise has a diverse, rapidly growing and broad-ranging regulatory practice advising U.S. banking institutions (“Wall Street,” regional and community), foreign banks, affiliated broker-dealers, and the leading trade groups (e.g., Financial Services Forum, Institute of International Bankers, Risk Management Association and SIFMA) for all of the foregoing, as well as insurance and other non-bank firms that seek to own banks or offer bank products, on the matters of greatest urgency and importance to them, including regulation and regulatory issues related to M&A and enforcement matters.
As others move into the bank space, our practice is distinctive by having leading practices in areas that span the major constituencies in the banking space (compared to other firms that may be strong in one, but not all, of these areas): Wall Street firms; regional banks; foreign banks; and other firms wishing to enter the banking space. We are the primary counsel to a number of regional and foreign banks. Indeed, it is a testament to the strength of our regulatory and compliance practice, and the esteem in which it is held across the highest levels of the financial services industry, that we are the go-to firm not only for many of the top 50 domestic banks and leading foreign banks, but also sophisticated non-bank financial institutions like insurers, broker-dealers, and private equity firms when they wish to enter the banking space or offer bank products. For example, with the RMA, we recently launched a new “Regional Bank Working Group,” composed of senior lawyers and compliance personnel of the regional banks focused exclusively on the regulatory and industry issues this cohort of banks will face in the coming years given the recent financial crisis.
In particular, we are the market leaders in providing compliance and regulatory advice in the following areas: