Function

Financial Institutions     Organize.    » Function.    Deals.

Regulatory Know-How and Established
Relationships

The regulatory landscape that encompasses the banking industry is intricate, multi-faceted and continually evolving.  STUART | MOORE | STAUB’s attorneys represents banking clients with respect to all regulatory matters, from the ordinary and routine, to the complex and complicated.  Our regulatory services include the following:

  • Preparation of regulatory applications, approval requests, notices and comment letters to federal and state banking agencies in connection with a myriad of matters, including bank formations, mergers and acquisitions, capital raises, changes in management and members of the board of directors, executive compensation as well as general operational issues;
  • Representation of clients at formal proceedings and informal meetings with regulators;
  • Providing legal counsel in connection with regulatory examinations;
  • Negotiation of formal or informal enforcement agreements and advising the board of directors and management as to their responsibilities relating to the same;
  • Advising banks classified as “troubled institutions” with respect to the necessary applications and approvals required for bank operations, including the payment of certain compensation packages; and
  • Counseling clients with respect to new and existing banking regulations, specifically including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, U.S. Patriot Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and the Bank Holding Company Act.

Additionally, STUART | MOORE | STAUB’s significant experience in bank regulatory matters allows our attorneys to offer much more than excellent counsel.  Our firm’s 150+ years of collective banking experience allows us to draw on well established relationships with federal and state regulators to help further the goals of our financial institution clients. These long-standing relationships provide our clients with unparalleled access to regulators, allowing for open dialogue with banking officials. These clear channels of communication allow for collaboration between our clients and their respective regulators, leading to an increase in pro-active solutions to many complex banking matters.

Executive Compensation

STUART | MOORE | STAUB advises banks, bank holding companies, boards of directors and executives with respect to all matters relating to compensation.  The scope of our firm’s services includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  • Preparation of all documentation relating to compensation, including employment agreements, employee handbooks, change in control agreements, SERP agreements, salary continuation agreements and other modes of executive compensation;
  • Providing counsel with respect to state and federal laws relating to executive compensation, including the impact that tax laws may have on standard mediums of executive compensation;
  • Preparation, implementation and maintenance of equity compensation plans that include stock options, restricted stock grants, stock appreciation rights, “phantom stock” and other equity compensation;
  • Advising boards of directors and management on the impact that government investment, regulatory examinations, and other bank activity may have on executive compensation, including prohibitions on bonuses, golden parachutes and other forms of compensation;
  • Development of long-term management team strategies and collaborate with boards of directors and outside consultants to identify, recruit and retain key executives; and
  • Advising boards of directors in connection with executive compensation matters relating to significant corporate events, including recapitalizations and mergers and acquisitions.

Operational Support

The extensive banking background of STUART | MOORE | STAUB’s attorneys allows our professionals to offer services that are not typical of many law firms.  At STUART | MOORE | STAUB, our decades of experience in the banking industry provides us with the necessary background to understand your business.  This understanding allows us to go well beyond the role of the traditional attorney to provide you with creative counseling that is tailored to your institution’s operational issues, regulatory requirements and business methods.  Given our breadth of knowledge in the financial services industry, our attorneys are capable of providing the following services:

  • Offering guidance with respect to problem loans and loan workout strategies;
  • Organizing and leading board of director strategy sessions to help an institution identify, prepare and consummate its short and long-term plans;
  • Providing assistance with respect to marketing materials, including press releases and earnings statements;
  • Negotiation of substantial agreements that impact the institution’s operations and bottom line, including information technology service contracts;
  • Providing counsel with respect to day-to-day operations, including employment matters; and
  • Providing legal, business and logistical analysis with respect to proposed expansion plans that include the establishment of loan production offices, branch openings and/or potential acquisitions.