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United States • Finance
5

Financial services regulation

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Goodwin

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Goodwin‘s banking and broker-dealer practices are extensive and cater to a wide range of clients. In the banking space, the firm offers comprehensive expertise across all areas of banking compliance, including the regulation of bank holding companies, savings and loan holding companies, and foreign banking organizations. The team also advises on capital regulation, regulatory issues affecting business combinations, and consumer compliance matters related to the mortgage and credit card industries. Notably, they provide guidance on anti-money laundering (AML), risk management, and affiliated party and insider transactions, among other banking-related concerns. In the broker-dealer space, the firm provides strategic counsel on broker status and exemptions from registration, including advising on fund sponsor arrangements with unregistered “finders” and venture “scout” programs. The practice assists clients with SEC registration, FINRA membership, and structuring considerations, as well as day-to-day legal, regulatory, and compliance advice. This includes personnel registration, licensing, recordkeeping, marketing, and advertising, as well as supervision and sales practices. Samantha Kirby leads the firm’s banking practice in Boston, while William Stern, based in New York, and Nick Losurdo, based in Boston, lead the financial services regulation practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Extremely in the weeds, knowledgeable, able to flex to meet demands. Excellent team I cannot say enough about.’

  • ‘Alex Callen is outstanding. Understands our industry and company as if he was in house. ’

  • ‘Deep industry knowledge; personal relationships with industry leaders, regulators, and lawmakers; broad transactional experience; knowledgeable partners in related practices (executive compensation, tax, ERISA); extremely responsive and client service-focused; transparent billing.’

  • ‘Samantha Kirby is my go-to person for tricky banking-related legal issues, regulatory questions, and industry introductions. She is extremely responsive, always getting back to me promptly with answers or to direct me to the best person to field my inquiry. She is deeply knowledgeable and connected within the industry and provides practical, actionable advice. She is also sensitive to cost considerations and engages support at the best level/price point to get the job done.’

  • ‘Like a lot of firms, Goodwin has strong practices and not-so-strong practices. The financial services regulation practice is quite strong and they work with a number of broker-dealers as well as technology providers who help those broker-dealers so they have useful experience for those of us on the technology side. I've interviewed other firms in this space and Goodwin stands out.’

  • ‘Nick Losurdo is fantastic. He "gets" it - very practical, can play the movie out and give realistic and effective advice. He tells you when to stress about something, and when to relax about something, and it's very helpful when your company moves really fast. Nick is also very responsive and makes himself available to talk through issues with me.’

Key clients

  • Brookline Bancorp
  • DWS Trust Company
  • Northeast Bank
  • Nave Bank
  • Maine Community Bancorp
  • Piper Sandler Companies
  • Northway Financial
  • Bangor Savings Bank
  • Grasshopper Bank
  • Bilt Technologies
  • YieldStreet
  • Steward Partners Investment Solutions

Practice head

Samantha Kirby; William Stern; Nick Losurdo

Other key lawyers

Kim Monty Holzel; Alex Callen