Banks and Digital Asset-Related Activities: Legal Framework, Permissible Activities, Risk Management

Mr. De Ghenghi focuses on bank regulatory advice, including Dodd-Frank Act implementation, M&A and capital markets transactions for banks and other financial institutions. He advises banks and financial institutions on corporate governance and compliance matters, bank insolvency issues, government investigations and enforcement actions, cross-border collateral transactions, clearance and settlement systems.

With over 32 years of legal experience in the financial services industry, Mr. Fornaris advises a broad range of financial firms, including banks and their holding companies, trust companies, money services businesses, FinTech and payments companies, cryptocurrency and other digital assets firms, investment advisers, securities broker dealers, gaming firms, and other financial institutions and their institution-affiliated parties, including financial institution officers and directors, on all aspects of their business from licensing and chartering to capital-raising, business combinations, new products, BSA/AML compliance, prudential regulation, examination issues, federal and state enforcement defense, and troubled institutions. He is chair of the Financial Innovation & Regulation Practice. Mr. Fornaris represents clients in an extensive range of regulatory, transactional, and administrative enforcement matters, including institution formation and licensing, capital-raising transactions, acquisitions and divestitures, Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) compliance and The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions programs—including the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)—digital assets regulation, FinTech and payments, Dodd-Frank Act compliance, federal and state agency enforcement proceedings and failed bank receivership and resolution advice. Throughout his career, he has counseled clients in their dealings with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board (FRB), Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Florida Office of Financial Regulation (FOFR), New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and other state supervisory authorities.