A contentious divide in the leadership of Republic First Bancorp, Inc. (Republic First) has now resulted in a third lawsuit against the company, this one filed by shareholders. Early last year, Republic First’s eight-person board of directors was evenly split into two camps: one led by former Republic First CEO, Vernon Hill, II, and another led by Harry Madonna, who had been CEO of Republic First prior to Hill. The two groups held conflicting views on the future of Republic First, with Hill’s faction seeking an expansion of retail banking operations and Madonna’s in favor of selling the company. The dispute between the two groups quickly became a public issue as Madonna’s group of directors issued a press release in March of 2022 accusing Hill and his associates of self-dealing and mismanagement. As a result of the letter, Republic First’s independent auditor expressed concerns about its forthcoming work with the company, and Republic First was unable to file its Form 10-K for the 2021 fiscal year until those concerns were addressed and the audit completed.

Hosted by attorneys Keith Barnett, Carlin McCrory, and Josh McBeain, Troutman Pepper’s latest podcast, Payments Pros, offers insights from attorneys, business leaders, and regulatory experts on the most challenging legal and regulatory concerns confronted by participants in the payments industry.

To listen and subscribe to the podcast click here.

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.

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On June 6, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively, the agencies) issued guidance to banking organizations on managing the risks associated with third party relationships. This final guidance reflects the 82 comment letters the agencies received from banking organizations, financial technology (fintech) companies and other third party providers on the proposed guidance released in July 2021 and replaces each agency’s existing guidance to ensure consistency in supervisory enforcement. While the agencies acknowledge that “[t]he use of third parties can offer banking organizations significant benefits, such as quicker and more efficient access to technologies, human capital, delivery channels, products, services, and markets,” they caution that the use of third parties “does not remove the need for sound risk management.” The agencies emphasize, however, that supervisory guidance does not have the force and effect of law and does not impose any new requirements on banking organizations.

Troutman Pepper is pleased to share our next video in Winning the Game of Distressed M&A: The Playbook, our series that provides actionable insights and tips from the trenches of middle-market distressed M&A.

Cost saving measures may be available for distressed companies with tax-qualified defined contribution plans. In this video, Troutman Pepper Partner Paul Porretta highlights those occasions, as well as related fiduciary concerns.