Grant Butler is a partner in the firm's Boston office. Grant represents financial institutions, fintech companies, and asset managers on a variety of regulatory and transactional matters, with particular emphasis on financial services regulatory matters, financial industry mergers and acquisitions, and other financial services-related corporate transactions.
He advises clients on regulatory issues related to the Dodd-Frank Act, the structuring of domestic and foreign investments and activities in compliance with the Bank Holding Company Act, transactions between banks and affiliates, capital raising initiatives, securities and insurance activities of banks, consumer financial product offerings, fiduciary activities, and structuring and operating pooled investment vehicles.
He also counsels clients with respect to corporate governance, operational matters, risk management, consumer financial regulatory matters, bank partnerships, collective investment funds, financial institution formation and reorganization transactions, and choosing and structuring appropriate charters or license structures for their business needs. He represents a variety of financial services companies before federal and state regulatory agencies, with respect to licensing, business combination, and enforcement matters. Grant’s practice also includes advising non-depository trust companies on regulatory, corporate, and fiduciary matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Grant was the chief legal officer of a fintech company focused on originating and managing portfolios of student loans, which also had a payments subsidiary focused on the education space. As chief legal officer, Grant was responsible for all legal, compliance, and regulatory affairs of the company. He managed a department that included the company’s legal, compliance, enterprise risk management, information security, and internal audit teams.
He was a member of the company’s management committee and served as corporate secretary. While in this role, Grant provided strategic counsel on a number of key initiatives, including launching a new bank partnership with a large regional banking institution, establishing a portfolio management arrangement and compliance oversight program for a US$10 billion student loan portfolio, developing new products, and facilitating the sale of the company’s payments subsidiary.
Prior to this, Grant was a member of the regulatory legal group of a global financial company. He provided legal advice and support globally, particularly with respect to bank regulatory, compliance, and state law issues, including matters relating to capital, liquidity, deposits, proposed regulations, and the nondepository trust company subsidiaries. He was also instrumental in creating and implementing the company’s global Volcker Rule compliance program.
Grant was previously an associate in the financial services practice of a global law firm.
Grant was a member of the drafting committees for the 2014 Massachusetts Bank Modernization Act and the modernization and recodification of the banking laws of New Hampshire.
- American Bar Association
- Boston Bar Association
- Compass Working Capital
- Member, Advisory Board, October 2015 – August 2022
- Secretary of Board of Directors, July 2009 – September 2015
- Speaker, "New Fed Supervisory Framework for Novel Activities," Institute of International Bankers, 20 September 2023
- Speaker, “Considerations for Fintech Partnerships in Light of Recent Enforcement Actions," Maine Bankers Association, 9 June 2023
- Panelist, "The Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank: What it Means for the Financial Ecosystem?" American Bar Association Spring Meeting, 27 April 2023
- "Pennsylvania Bankers Association, “Recent Federal Regulatory Response” 14 March 2023
- Digital Asset Regulatory & Legal Alliance, Panel on Recent Failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, 16 March 2023
- Speaker, M&A Simulation, Acquire or Be Acquired Conference, January 2023
- Presenter, Considerations for Successful Bank/Fintech Partnerships, Massachusetts Bankers Association 2022 CFO and Financial Managers Forum, November 2022
- "5 Ways Fed Crypto Statement Affects State Member Banks," Law360, 27 February 2023
- "Leveraging Technology for Growth," BankDirector.com, 24 February 2023
- "The trust company — an old tool for a new age," Reuters Legal News, 22 July 2022
- Quoted, "Where Are All the Financial Regs Lawyers? Big Law Has a Need for More," The Recorder, 24 April 2023
- Quoted, "Pivoting to a Post-Silicon Valley Bank Regulatory Regime," The National Law Journal, 20 April 2023
- Quoted, "First Republic scores $30B lifeline from 11 banks," The Real Deal, 16 March 2023
- Mentioned, "FDIC Planning to Try Auctioning Silicon Valley Bank Again: WSJ," CoinDesk, 13 March 2023
- Quoted, "All Eyes On Regulators As SVB Failure Tests Bank-Crisis Prep," Law360, 10 March 2023
- Quoted, "Crypto's Banking Problem: Industry Needs Access but US Regulators Keep Digital Assets at Bay," CoinDesk, 13 February 2023
- "K&L Gates Adds Ex-State Street, Fintech Compliance Pro," Law360, 20 May 2022
