Regulatory

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Mindful of the impending retirement of many millions of investors in the “baby boomer” generation, which hold a substantial amount of the world’s wealth, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) continues to heavily monitor its member firms supervision of their registered financial advisors who service vulnerable and elderly investor customers. For example, last month FINRA suspended a former David Lerner Associates (DLA) branch manager for failing to properly supervise sales of interests in two illiquid oil and gas limited partnerships. The suspended manager at issue approved these transactions, which carried a high degree of risk, to some senior investors with insufficient tolerance for risk. Ultimately, FINRA concluded that the supervising branch manager failed to “conduct a reasonable analysis” of the suitability of those investments for the elderly customers or within 30 days of their risk tolerance increasing.

At a Brookings Institution event on June 20, Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, a top antitrust official for the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ or Department), announced that the Department will reassess its approach to bank merger enforcement given current market realities. Specifically, the Department will assess whether the factual and economic assumptions underlying its 1995 Bank Merger Guidelines are adequate to measure today’s competition.

On June 14, the Treasury Department (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed regulations and temporary regulations on tax credit transfers pursuant to Section 6418 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (Code), which was enacted by the Inflation Reduction Act. Section 6418 allows eligible taxpayers to elect to transfer certain tax credits, including the ITC and PTC, to unrelated taxpayers rather than using the credits against their federal income tax liabilities. The IRS also issued regulations on direct payments pursuant to Section 6417, which we will address in a subsequent update.

On June 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published the spring edition of its Semiannual Risk Perspective, which discusses key issues facing banks. The good news is that the federal banking system saw historic growth in net interest income in 2022. However, rising interest rates weigh on other aspects of bank performance, such as noninterest income, as mortgage activity continues to slow.

Firm Lands 58 Practice Area and 144 Attorney Recognitions in Latest Guide

Troutman Pepper, a national law firm with more than 1,200 attorneys in 23 strategically located cities across the United States, achieved 58 national and statewide practice area rankings in the latest edition of Chambers USA.

This year’s guide also recognized 135 firm attorneys…

Troutman Pepper earned 17 nationwide practice rankings in The Legal 500 United States 2023, an independent ranking authority of law firms around the world.

The Troutman Pepper finance practices was ranked in the following nationwide areas:

  • Finance: Project finance: energy and power
  • Finance: Commercial lending: advice to borrowers

Notably, this year Troutman Pepper also earned…

On June 9, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced it is requesting information for a proposed annual survey aimed at understanding and measuring the public’s trust in banking and banking supervision. The OCC is inviting various stakeholders to comment on the survey’s scope and ways to track public trust over time.

Troutman Pepper Partner James Stevens spoke at the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) Atlanta and IIA Northeast Florida Financial Services Meeting on June 9. Stevens discussed opportunities and challenges in today’s banking environment with Melissa Sneed from the State of Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, Kamal Hosein from Stifel Financial Corp., and…

As discussed here, in April 2023, Colorado introduced HB 1229 that proposed to limit certain charges on consumer loans and simultaneously opt Colorado out of sections 521-523 of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act (DIDMCA). Sections 521-523 of DIDMCA empower state banks, insured state and federal savings associations and state credit unions to charge the interest allowed by the state where they are located, regardless of where the borrower is located and regardless of conflicting state law (i.e., “export” their home state’s interest-rate authority). However, section 525 of DIDMCA gives states the authority to opt out of sections 521-523. Indeed, Colorado initially opted out of DIDMCA when it was enacted, but later repealed its opt-out. This week HB 1229 was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis joining Colorado with Iowa and Puerto Rico as the only jurisdictions currently opting out.