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Gregory Parisi

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Greg leverages his broad experience and pragmatic approach, bringing a wealth of knowledge, business insight and practical problem-solving skills to efficiently manage transactions and advise clients in an evolving legal landscape. He combines his corporate and transactional experience with a robust knowledge of bank regulatory issues to provide valued legal solutions for financial institutions, financial technology companies and other businesses. Greg often works closely with clients to design and implement internal policies and procedures and contractual safeguards in commercial arrangements in connection with corporate and regulatory requirements and risk management best practices.

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Over one year ago, on October 3, 2023, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) proposed supervisory guidelines that would establish standards for corporate governance and risk management for all state non-member banks with assets greater than $10 billion (Proposed Guidelines). Unlike guidance, which does not have the force and effect of law, any final guidelines based on the Proposed Guidelines (Final Guidelines) would be issued as Appendix C to the FDIC’s standards for safety and soundness in part 364, pursuant to Section 39 of the FDI Act.

Today, both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) finalized new guidelines regarding bank mergers. According to the agencies, these updates aim to enhance transparency and provide clearer guidance on the evaluation of merger applications under the Bank Merger Act (BMA).

On June 24, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced it is requesting comments on proposed amendments to its recovery planning guidelines. A recovery plan’s purpose is to provide a covered bank with a framework to effectively and efficiently address the financial effects of severe stress events and avoid failure or resolution. Among other things, the proposed amendments aim to expand the guidelines to apply to banks with average total consolidated assets between $100 billion and $250 billion. The proposal also seeks to incorporate a testing standard and clarify the role of non-financial risks in recovery planning.

On May 3, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) released a guidebook aimed at assisting community banks in managing risks associated with third-party relationships (the TPRM Guide). The TPRM Guide builds upon the principles introduced in the third-party risk management guidance for banking organizations issued by the agencies in June 2023 (the June 2023 Guidance, discussed here) as well as the agencies’ community bank guide for conducting due diligence on fintech companies from October 2023 (discussed here) but does not displace or substitute that prior guidance.

There has been a great deal of press about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) vote to ban employee non-competition provisions and policies; see our firm’s fuller discussion here. While the FTC describes the rule as a comprehensive ban, it acknowledges that the rule does not apply to regulated financial institutions, and nonsolicitation clauses are still permitted.

On March 29, a Texas federal court granted a preliminary injunction enjoining the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) from implementing their Final Rule modernizing how they assess lenders’ compliance under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Notably, the court found the plaintiffs demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on the claim that the Final Rule violates the CRA, indicating how the district court will likely find on the merits.

Today, a divided Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Board of Directors issued a proposed Statement of Policy (SOP) on bank merger transactions that would create a combined bank with more than $100 billion in assets. The proposed SOP would replace the FDIC’s current SOP on bank merger transactions and proposes a principles-based overview that describes…

On March 12, at the Institute of International Bankers Annual Washington Conference, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu discussed the importance of operational resilience in the banking sector and hinted that potential regulations aimed to promote the same may be forthcoming.

Yesterday, the Texas Bankers Association, the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers Association, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, the Longview Chamber of Commerce, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the Independent Bankers Association of Texas Revenue Based Finance Coalition (collectively, the plaintiffs) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas challenging the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (collectively, the agencies) Final Rule modernizing how they assess lenders’ compliance under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). In their complaint, the plaintiffs asked the court to vacate the Final Rule and provide a preliminary injunction that would pause implementation of the Final Rule while the court decides the case.

As discussed here, on October 24, the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency finally issued their long-awaited final rule modernizing how they assess lenders’ compliance under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA regulations had not been updated since 1995.