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Keith J. Barnett

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Keith’s experience representing clients in the financial services industry as a litigation, compliance, regulatory, investigations (internal and regulatory), and enforcement attorney spans 20 years. Keith represents clients against government regulators (CFPB, FTC, SEC, CFTC), industry regulators (FINRA), and private litigants in federal courts, state courts, and before arbitration and administrative law panels in the financial services industry.

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On August 5, the SOLO Network announced a FinCEN-observed bank reliance pilot developed in coordination with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The pilot represents the first coordinated engagement across all four agencies to operationalize bank reliance at scale and could significantly reshape how financial institutions approach customer due diligence and identity verification.

Troutman Pepper Locke’s Securities Investigations and Enforcement team counsels and defends clients through all stages of securities enforcement proceedings. Our attorneys have served in key government agencies and regulatory bodies, and bring their insight to bear in each representation. The team includes a former branch chief of the Division of Enforcement at the SEC, former…

On June 16, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a cease and desist order against United Texas Bank, N.A. citing deficiencies in its Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) compliance program that resulted in violations of law or regulation. The action is notable not only for its substance, but for its context. The order was issued as a condition of the bank’s conversion to a national bank charter supervised by the OCC.

The Road to Housing Act takes aim at one of the most persistent pain points in community banking: the risk that everyday deposit relationships — particularly those involving custodial arrangements and reciprocal deposit networks — get swept into the regulatory definition of “brokered deposits.” Sections 901 and 902 of the legislation offer meaningful, targeted relief, providing both structural clarity for institutions that rely on payment services arrangements and expanded safe harbors for reciprocal deposit programs. For community banks, these changes could meaningfully expand deposit stability without triggering the heightened regulatory scrutiny that brokered deposit classification brings.

On May 12, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a significant interpretive letter confirming that Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association (the recently converted national trust bank formerly known as Fidelity Digital Assets Service, LLC) is not required to hold state money transmitter licenses to conduct its federally authorized activities. The OCC concluded that the National Bank Act preempts any state money transmitter licensing requirement as applied to a national bank.

Federal regulators recently took two coordinated steps that significantly shift expectations for how lenders and banks treat non‑work authorized individuals and their employers. On June 5, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) issued a formal statement on how immigration status should factor into ability‑to‑repay determinations under the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z. On the same day, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), jointly with the federal banking agencies and in coordination with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), released a detailed advisory on fraud, payroll schemes, and money laundering risks associated with the unlawful employment of non-work authorized persons, including specific guidance regarding the use of Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).

On May 20, the Federal Reserve Board issued a proposal (following a December 2025 Request for Information) to create a new, special-purpose “payment account” that eligible financial institutions could use solely to clear and settle payments. At the same time, the Board signaled that Federal Reserve Banks should temporarily pause decisions on certain master account applications from higher-risk institutions while this policy work proceeds.

Yesterday, U.S. Representatives Young Kim (R-CA) and Sam Liccardo (D-CA) introduced the Payments Access and Consumer Efficiency Act of 2026 (PACE Act). The bill would create an optional federal framework for large state‑regulated payment companies, giving qualifying firms Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) supervision and potential direct access to Federal Reserve payment rails, in exchange for bank‑like prudential and customer‑protection standards. It is an early‑stage proposal with uncertain prospects but significant implications for nonbank payments and bank–fintech partnerships.

Troutman Pepper Locke’s Securities Investigations and Enforcement team counsels and defends clients through all stages of securities enforcement proceedings. Our attorneys have served in key government agencies and regulatory bodies, and bring their insight to bear in each representation. The team includes a former branch chief of the Division of Enforcement at the SEC, former enforcement lawyers, regulators and government attorneys, assistant United States Attorneys and former assistant attorneys general, as well as in-house counsel for public companies. Our lawyers and practice have been identified as leaders in the field by publications such as the Legal 500, SuperLawyers, Benchmark Litigation, and Chambers USA.