Discussion Group III: How Size Matters - Regulatory Considerations for Deals
Gregory Lyons is a corporate partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Financial Institutions Group. Mr. Lyons has been Chair of the New York City Bar Association Committee on Banking Law. 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.
In Chambers USA and Chambers Global, which have recommended Mr. Lyons as a top financial services lawyer for numerous years, sources report that he has “vast knowledge and experience in the regulatory space and his expertise gives him the unique ability to provide guidance on complex matters quickly and in an easily understandable manner.” They also say that “he is invested in ensuring that we are successful in our endeavors by helping us understand the challenges and risks, meeting those head-on with innovative and practical solutions,” and “I've said this before and I'll say it again, he's a top-notch lawyer. Not only has he a keen intellect, but he also has a vast knowledge of the bank regulatory landscape, from straight regulatory issues to corporate governance issues to the structuring of a transaction, where he's able to handle all the attendant regulations that are involved in a deal.” Sources praise him as “very business-savvy,” “phenomenal,” an “outstanding” lawyer who is “hugely pragmatic and very solutions-oriented,” with “unparalleled experience and depth of knowledge.” Mr. Lyons is also recognized as a Leading Lawyer by The Legal 500 US (2013–2023) for being “extremely responsive and knowledgeable about the industry and its players.” The guide also praises him for his ability to “add value by providing a practical perspective on regulatory matters.” In addition, he is recognized as a Market Leader by IFLR1000 (2022), was recognized as an MVP by Law360 for banking and is listed in BTI “Client Service All-Stars.”
Mr. Lyons has spoken at numerous seminars on banking and related issues. He recently created and chaired national conferences regarding ways to leverage the benefits of a bank within a diversified financial services organization, the application of the Basel II and “Basel III” capital regulations to large domestic and institutional financial services organizations and private equity investing in banking institutions. He is a frequent panelist at The Risk Management Association’s conferences and recently presented on “The Impact of Dodd-Frank on Securities Finance” at the 27th Annual RMA Conference. He also has spoken on securities lending, common and collective fund and other fiduciary and securities matters.
Mr. Lyons has authored various articles on legal developments affecting financial institutions, private equity and other entities. Recent publications include “OCC releases notice of proposed rulemaking on bank mergers,” Westlaw Today (March, 2024); “Debevoise Discusses Proposed FDIC Guidelines for Corporate Governance and Risk Management,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (October, 2023); “CFPB’s Report on Buy Now, Pay Later,” NYU Compliance & Enforcement (October, 2022); the U.S. Banking Regulation chapter in Lexology Getting the Deal Through (2021, 2022 and 2023); “Debevoise & Plimpton Discusses Federal Regulators’ Focus on AI and Consumer Protection in Finance,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (November, 2021); “Debevoise Discusses Banks and Climate-Change Initiatives,” CLS Law School Blue Sky Blog (January, 2021); “Debevoise & Plimpton Expects More New York Regulatory Enforcement of Banking and Financial Services,” CLS Blue Sky Blog (September, 2020); “Insulated No More: The Seila Decision and the End of the Independent CFPB Director,” NYU Compliance & Enforcement (July, 2020); “Federal Reserve Proposes Enhanced Prudential Standards For Insurance SIFIs,” FC&S Legal (July, 2016); “Federal Reserve Publishes Advance Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking On Capital Requirements For Insurers,” FC&S Legal (July, 2016); “Enforcement Outlook For Foreign Banks In New York,” Law360 (July, 2016); “Preparing For The New Reality Of Bank Activism,” Bank Director (April, 2016); “The ISDA Resolution Stay Protocol And Its Impact On The Securities Lending Industry,” Securities Lending Times (November, 2015); “NAIC Begins To Develop A Group Capital Measure For U.S. Insurance Enterprises,” FC&S Legal (August, 2015); “The Regulatory Tiers: Should You Grow Past $1 Billion, $5 Billion Or Even $10 Billion In Assets?,” BankDirector.com (May, 2015); and “FSOC: Are Asset Managers’ Products And Activities Creating Systemic Risk?,” The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (January, 2015).
Prior to joining Debevoise in 2009, Mr. Lyons was Co-Chair of Goodwin Procter’s Financial Services Group and Chair of its Banking Practice, where he created and wrote Goodwin Procter’s weekly financial services newsletter and regularly advised clients as to the ramifications of legislative and regulatory developments in the financial services industry.
Mr. Lyons received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1987. He received his J.D. magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law in 1990.
Gregory Lyons是德普公司业务组合伙人及金融机构业务组联席主席。Lyons律师还担任纽约市律师协会银行法委员会主席。他主要为金融机构以及私募股权和投资于金融机构的其他实体提供服务，尤其专注于国内和跨境银行监管、交易和审查事项。
他的执业领域包括美国和外国银行监管、成立、合并、改制、结构化证券和证券融资工作、风险资本及信托事项以及公司和证券法律事项。Lyons律师曾在联邦储备委员会、货币监理署、美国联邦存款保险公司、证券交易委员会以及各州银行和证券监管机构前代表银行和其他金融机构。他在为证券、证券融资、保险及其他非银行金融服务行业客户提供有关收购、杆杆化和持续拥有银行机构的建议，以及为银行组织提供非传统银行服务建议并协助客户分析相关业务和监管风险方面具有丰富的经验。
《美国钱伯斯》和《全球钱伯斯》已多年将Lyons律师评为金融服务业务的顶尖律师，据消息来源称他拥有“在监管领域的丰富知识和经验，他的专业知识使他具有独特的能力，能够以易于理解的方式快速为复杂问题提供指导。” 他们还表示“他致力于帮助我们了解挑战和风险，并以创新和实用的解决方案进行应对，以确保我们的工作取得成功。”“我不是第一次这样评价（他）了。他是最优秀的律师，不但思维敏捷，而且广泛了解银行监管的形势，包括直接监管问题，公司治理问题，乃至交易构架。他能够处理一项交易所伴随的任何监管事宜。”另有消息来源称赞Lyons律师“极具商业头脑”、“非凡”，是一名“杰出”的律师，“做事极其务实，以解决问题为导向”，具备“无人能及的丰富经验与深厚学识”。Lyons律师还因其“迅速响应以及非常了解行业及其参与者”而被《美国法律500强》（2013-2022年）认可为“杰出律师”。该指南称赞他能够“从实际的角度看待监管事宜，为客户提供增值服务。”此外，他被《国际金融法律评论》（2022年）认可为“市场领军人物”，被《法律360》评为银行业务领域的最有价值律师，并入选BTI“客户服务全明星”。
Lyons律师曾在众多研讨会上发表有关银行业务和相关问题的演讲。他最近发起并主持了关于如何在多元化金融服务机构中利用银行好处以及将巴塞尔协议II和“巴塞尔协议III”资本规定运用到大型国内机构金融服务组织以及投资于银行机构之私募股权的全国性会议。他是风险管理协会的会议专家小组常客，并在最近举行的第27届RMA年度会议上发表了“多德-弗兰克法案对证券融资的影响”演讲。他还针对证券借贷、共同和集体基金以及其他信托和证券事项发表过演讲。
Lyons律师撰写了多篇有关法律发展对金融机构、私募股权和其他实体的影响的文章。近期发表的文章包括“CFPB 关于先买后付的报告”，纽约大学合规与执法部门（2022 年 10 月）; “达成交易”，Lexology美国银行业监管章节（2021、2022年）；“德普阐述联邦监管机构对金融领域人工智能和消费者保护的关注”，哥伦比亚法学院蓝天博客（2021年11月）；“德普阐述银行与气候变化的倡议”，哥伦比亚法学院蓝天博客（2021年1月）；“德普预期纽约将加强对银行与金融服务业的监管执法”，哥伦比亚法学院蓝天博客（2020年9月）；“不再免受影响：Seila一案的裁定以及独立CFPB局长的结束”，纽约大学合规与执法（2020年7月）;“美联储提议增强保险系统重要性金融机构的审慎标准”，FC&S Legal（2016年7月）；“美联储发布关于保险公司资本要求的拟议规则的预先通知”，FC&S Legal（2016年7月）；“纽约外资银行的执法展望”，法律360（2016年7月）；“为银行激进主义的新现实做准备”，Bank Director（2016年4月）；“ISDA决议中止协议及其对证券借贷行业的影响”，Securities Lending Times（2015年11月）；“NAIC着手为美国保险企业制定集团资本措施”，FC&S Legal（2015年8月）；“监管层级：你的资产应该增长超过10亿美元、50亿美元还是100亿美元？”，BankDirector.com（2015年5月）；以及“金融稳定监督委员会：资产管理人的产品和活动是否会造成系统性风险？”，哈佛大学法学院公司治理和金融监管论坛（2015年1月）。
在2009年加入德普之前，Lyons律师是Goodwin Procter金融服务业务组的联席主席兼银行业务主席，在此期间他创办了Goodwin Procter的每周金融服务快讯并撰稿，同时也经常就金融服务业立法和监管发展动态的后果向客户提供建议。
Lyons律师于1987年在卫斯理大学获得文学士学位，于1990年以优异成绩在波士顿大学法学院获得法学博士学位。