Good businesses understand that if they have any financial interaction with consumers, they may be operating in the complex and highly-regulated area of "consumer financial services."
Smart businesses understand and appreciate the compliance and regulatory constraints imposed by a host of federal and state standards on companies engaging in such consumer financial services.
Successful businesses stay ahead of the curve and employ an easy, actionable program of controls to ensure that no aspect of their consumer interaction runs afoul of what can seem to be an arcane
and Byzantine regulatory and statutory framework, often creating a trap for the unwary and risks of government investigations, enforcement actions, and complex litigation, including consumer class actions.
Kelley Drye & Warren's Consumer Financial Services practice offers experienced, knowledgeable, business-savvy practitioners who provide strategic advice and a comprehensive range of support services to both
traditional and emerging consumer financial services businesses. The results? We continue to witness remarkable turnarounds in efficiency, cost-savings, and customer service among the clients we have
counseled, just by conducting relatively straightforward reviews and implementing simple programs to enhance our clients’ compliance footprint.
Further, drawing on our deep bench of nationally-known litigators, Kelley Drye's Consumer Financial Services group offers experience in rigorous investigation, dispute resolution and litigation in responding
to state and federal regulators, managing Attorney General and federal investigations, and litigating matters ranging from white collar criminal defense to defense of major national class actions.
The bottom line is that Kelley Drye provides its clients with one-stop services for all of their consumer financial services compliance, litigation, and government relations needs.
You may be surprised at the scope of businesses that can benefit from preventive counseling, in areas ranging from product disclosures to financial privacy, information sharing, and financial data security.
We help our clients create a strategic approach modeled on a combination of both compliance and innovation. Kelley Drye's Consumer Financial Services group has been successfully engaged by a broad range of clients:
- Mortgage Companies
- Student Loan Companies
- Auto/Boat/Vehicle Finance Providers
- Banks
- Non-Traditional Money Services Companies (Money Transfer, Prepaid Cash Card, Online Payment Service Providers)
- Non-Prime Lenders
- National Retailers (Both Traditional and Online)
- Mobile Telecommunications Companies
We work with both financial services firms and non-financial services providers including banks, finance companies, traditional and online merchants and telecommunications companies moving into the future of financial services to address all of their legal needs.
Are you a lender or loan servicer? Do you sell financial products or services or provide credit to consumers in any form or fashion? If so, your business is vulnerable to enforcement under any or all of the following protocols and statutes, upon which our practitioners regularly advise:
- Card Association Rules
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act
- Electronic Funds Transfer Act
- Fair Credit Reporting Act
- Fair Credit Transactions Act
- Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
- Fair Housing Act
- Gramm Leach Bliley Act
- National Automated Clearing House Association Rules
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
- State Money Transmitter Statutes
- State Retail Installment Sales Act
- State and Federal Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Acts
- TILA, RESPA, and related federal and state consumer disclosure and notice requirements
- We help develop financial services products-including drafting, marketing, servicing and supporting secondary market sales-for retail installment sales, mortgage and auto loan products.
- We work with non-traditional financial services providers to address all of their legal needs associated with payment services, money transmitter issues, anti-money laundering and related financial privacy and security needs.
- We provide comprehensive, realistic advice on fair credit best practices, data security, information sharing, permissible cross marketing practices, enhancing and unwinding consumer relationships.
We know that merchants face many of the same issues as traditional financial service providers. We regularly advise the merchant community on these issues, but we take it a step further with our depth of experience
specifically supporting all aspects of billing and payment services. Kelley Drye works with merchants to leverage existing and emerging payment methods, including debit and credit cards, gift cards, payroll cards,
and other means of completing merchant transactions and securing compensation while adhering to the many rules and regulations in place to ensure compliance. We provide comprehensive legal support for emerging
alternative financial services offerings such as incorporation of token technology for quick payment, non-bank financial services, non-traditional money transfer services, and turnkey payment settlement services,
including counsel on issues of privacy and security of consumer financial data.
We contract and manage legal support for merchant billing systems, and create and counsel clients on how to effectively manage servicing issues for consumer goods finance programs. Our team regularly:
- Reviews and structures contracting and compliance for efficient payment processing and enhanced billing relationships
- Identifies and counsels on credit/debit card authorization and payment issues
- Reviews and structures recurring payment programs
- Audits E-checking processes, especially within the context of EFTA, Regulation E and E-SIGN
- Reviews and advises on card association and NACHA rules compliance
- Audits and counsels on online subscription billing methods and procedures
- Audits and counsels on alternate billing methods, including stored value cards and private label programs
- Reviews and provides legal support on PCI, CISP and related card association audit compliance requirements.
Preventive Counseling
- Advised on prescreen firm offer requirements for pre-approved student loan consolidation program for national student loan company.
- Counsel to national mortgage lender on borrower preauthorized transfer payment program.
- Crafted and implemented data security and information sharing compliance program for national recreational vehicle finance company.
- Provided comprehensive legal support for the launch of a telecommunications service with an embedded money transfer capability, stored value card feature, and phone card reload capability. Unique issues included advising on the USA Patriot Act, Anti-Money Laundering compliance, and data law review of money transfer requirements.
- Routinely advise national Fortune 500 retailers on PCI and general card association rules compliance.
- Provided comprehensive legal support for launch of private label credit card program for national magazine publisher.
Investigations and Litigation
- Defended major national mortgage company in first fair lending enforcement litigation ever brought by the Department of Justice, resulting in a highly favorable settlement for our client.
- Class action counsel in class actions alleging data collection and data security violations by national retailer.
- Represented various financial services companies in government investigations into their lending practices resulting in no further action by the government.
- Represented various consumer financial services companies in government enforcement and class action litigation, including, for example, a credit card issuer in litigation brought by the Department of Justice alleging violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”), and a financial services company in a class action alleging violations of RICO arising from its provision of credit card services, resulting in favorable settlements to the clients.
- Successfully managed response to a five-year, 48-state Attorney General investigation into the payment practices of a major communications and internet service provider coupled with an associated Federal Trade Commission investigation.
- Structured and supported enterprise-wide team responsible for responding to customer complaints and regulator inquiries for merchant client with national and international operations.
For further information about Kelley Drye's Consumer Financial Services Practice Group, please contact:
Joel Hewer
(202) 342-8520
jhewer@kelleydrye.com
Donna L. Wilson
(202) 342-8475
dwilson@kelleydrye.com
|
