K&L Gates' Depository Institutions group is an important segment of the firm's core Financial Services area.  Depository Institutions lawyers represent all types of regulated banking institutions and financial services industry participants ranging from large domestic and international banks and their affiliates or agencies to community banks, bank holding companies, financial holding companies, thrift institutions, trust companies, credit unions, and other clients providing payment or other services to the banking industry.  Many of our lawyers have served on the legal staffs of bank regulatory agencies.

Our representation and advice cover the full range of bank, corporate and regulatory matters, including:

• mergers and acquisitions;
• bank formation; 
• restructuring and control issues; 
• bank and financial holding company activities; 
• corporate governance;
• bank securities activities; 
• executive compensation and succession planning; 
• director and officer responsibilities; 
• funds transfers issues; 
• new product development; 
• trust company and investment management activities; 
• bank sponsored mutual and private equity fund matters; 
• custodial and securities lending arrangements; 
• risk management; 
• internal controls and operations; 
• anti-money laundering compliance;
• consumer law compliance; 
• regulatory agency financial reporting; 
• examination and audit planning and strategy; 
• examination disputes; 
• internal investigations; and 
• international banking.

We advise clients with respect to the application of statutory and regulatory control provisions to proposed investments in financial institutions and the principal statutory and regulatory provisions affecting the operations of depository institutions and their holding companies.  We also advise investment management clients with respect to fiduciary activities governed by applicable banking laws.  Our Depository Institution lawyers also work closely with our Mortgage Banking lawyers on a wide range of consumer credit and other issues. 

In the U.S., our Depository Institution lawyers regularly appear before national and state banking trade associations and groups and are frequent contributors to banking industry publications. 
In the U.S., we regularly represent clients before the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the National Credit Union Administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and various state banking departments.  In the U.K., we regularly represent clients before the Financial Services Authority.