Practice Overview
Richards, Layton & Finger regularly represents banks, trust companies and other financial institutions located in Delaware and elsewhere. Clients range from among the largest banking and financial organizations in the world to small- and medium-sized banks, trust companies and lenders. The Banking Group’s experience includes counseling on financial institution structuring and formation issues, federal and state regulatory compliance issues, mergers and acquisitions involving a Delaware financial institution, lending and other financing transactions, corporate and personal trust matters, consumer lending activities and financial institution insurance activities.
Regulatory Practice
The Banking Group regularly represents financial institutions before the Office of the Delaware State Bank Commissioner with respect to regulatory matters. Richards Layton has significant experience in guiding clients through the application and approval processes for all types of financial institutions with the Office of the Delaware State Bank Commissioner, including matters for which public hearings may be required. Our lawyers also have experience in advising clients on aspects of federal banking laws and regulations, and representing clients before federal banking regulators.
Advice on Trust Activities
The Banking Group regularly works closely with the firm’s other practice groups, including the Tax Group and the Business Trust & Agency Services Group, to advise banks and trust companies doing business in Delaware on legal issues arising in their personal and corporate trust businesses, including advice on how to structure and conduct trust operations in Delaware.
CASE STUDY: Game-Changing Transactions
- Client: Many national or global financial institutions.
- Challenge: When a banking client negotiates a merger or acquisition or designs a fundamental restructuring of its existing business operations, obtaining all required regulatory approvals is essential to facilitating an orderly closing.
- Solution: Clients have turned to our firm, often with tight time frames within which to close, to advise them on what Delaware regulatory approvals are required and to assist in obtaining those approvals, including in connection with transactions occurring as a result of the recent global financial crisis.
- Result: With our significant experience representing banking clients before the Office of the State Bank Commissioner and the application and approval processes, and our deep understanding of Delaware banking law, our firm has successfully assisted many banking clients in structuring their most important transactions and guiding them through the Delaware regulatory approval process.
Consumer Lending
The Banking Group also has significant experience with all pertinent Delaware consumer loan statutes and has prepared or reviewed forms for a variety of consumer loan transactions and lending programs. It has advised many mortgage, automobile and other lending institutions on compliance with licensing and other requirements under Delaware law.