Regulatory Examinations

BuckleySandler attorneys possess an unparalleled level of knowledge and experience in representing clients in financial services-related regulatory examinations. We provide full service assistance prior to and throughout the examination process, including advising our clients on pre-examination preparation, responding to regulators' inquiries and criticisms, and assisting clients with any post-examination follow-up that may be necessary. Every day, our attorneys are assisting banks and other financial institutions in connection with regulatory examinations and supervision matters initiated by state and federal regulatory agencies.  Our attorneys have counseled and advocated for clients on matters involving all of the federal prudential regulators, including the OCC, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC. We also have advised clients in responding to or preparing for nearly 20 CFPB exams in the past 12 months. Our clients benefit from the depth and breadth of our regulatory and enforcement practice as we help to guide them through the examination process. That experience also allows us to provide practical advice regarding day-to-day compliance matters raised by examination concerns and to provide effective litigation risk management strategies.

Our attorneys:

• Assist with pre-examination preparation
• Work with financial institutions to coordinate responses to routine examinations; “cause” examinations; “sweep” or special examinations; safety and soundess examinations; and “oversight” examinations
  • Conduct internal investigations to fully understand relevant facts
  • Assist with document review and production, including privilege review and determining whether to produce the privileged documents under Section 18(x) of the FDIC Act 
  • Understand the strength of the legal basis for the regulator’s concern
• Facilitate engagement with regulators throughout the examination process to ensure the most favorable outcome, including interim status reports and exit interviews
  • Draft detailed submissions to explain why bank activities were legal and consistent with safe and sound operations
  • Represent individual employees being interviewed by the regulators
• Prepare and coordinate the response to the examination report
• Recommend, coordinate and monitor corrective action steps

BuckleySandler helps clients in responding to regulatory examination from various financial services regulators, including:

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
• Federal Reserve Board (FRB)
• Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)
• Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
• Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
• Department of Justice (DOJ)
• State bank regulators
• State mortgage banking regulators, including under the new multi-state exam procedures

We routinely handle regulatory examination matters involving:

• Fair and Responsible Lending
• Unfair or deceptive acts or practices (UDAP)
• Mortgage servicing
• Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
• Privacy and data security
• Saftety and soundness issues
• Classification of loans and other assets
• CAMELS ratings
• Adequacy of the ALLL
• Critcism of management and the board of directors