Kristina A. Del Vecchio is a partner in Joseph, Cohen & Del Vecchio’s San Francisco office and head of its financial services practice. She brings almost two decades of experience in representing and advising consumer banks, credit unions, commercial banks, bank holding companies, lenders, fintechs and financial services companies in connection with enforcement and regulatory matters, mergers and acquisitions, compliance with state and federal banking, credit union and consumer protection statutes, rules, regulations, as well as guidance regarding mortgage, reverse mortgage, credit card, student loan, auto litigation compliance, enforcement and regulatory issues. Ms. Del Vecchio also specializes in regulatory counseling and complex commercial litigation matters for corporate clients in other industries, such as technology and clean energy.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Del Vecchio was Director and Senior Counsel at CIT Group Inc. (CIT). CIT is a financial holding company, and its principal subsidiary is CIT Bank, N.A. (formerly known as OneWest Bank NA). While at CIT, Ms. Del Vecchio managed the regulatory monitoring and change management process; provided compliance, regulatory, and risk management advice to the bank and holding company; represented the interests of CIT before federal regulatory agencies and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs); supported due diligence and analysis relating to potential asset sales and acquisitions; and assisted with resolving issues and matters arising from examinations and regulator inquiries.
Ms. Del Vecchio has also worked at the law firms of Weil, Gotshal and Manges, LLP, and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, LLP. Additionally, Ms. Del Vecchio served as an in-house attorney at the Credit Union National Association, the largest national trade association serving America’s state and federally chartered credit unions. While at the Credit Union National Association, she represented the interests of credit unions before Congress and federal agencies, particularly the National Credit Union Administration, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of the Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Some of the representative matters in which Ms. Del Vecchio has been involved include:
- Representing state-chartered and federal credit unions in acquisitions of state or federally-chartered credit unions;
- Representing credit unions before the NCUA and DFPI in connection with field of membership expansions, enforcement matters, and obtaining opinions on various regulatory and compliance matters;
- Representing financial institutions in negotiations for complex vendor contracts with large financial services and technology vendors;
- Representing green energy producers in complex commercial contract disputes with energy purchasers;
- Representing financial institutions and technology companies in complex commercial litigation and consumer and class action litigation defense;
- Advising entities, including a major technology firm, on applicability and implementation of various new state commercial financing disclosure laws and regulations;
- Advising a reverse mortgage servicer in state and Federal regulatory and compliance matters and related litigation;
- Representing financial services companies and credit unions in state and federal government investigations and enforcement actions;
- Representing a bank holding company in negotiations with a federal banking agency and GSE related to settling matters pertaining to legacy acquired mortgage portfolios;
- Defending a major student lender in actions asserting claims brought pursuant to the Federal Trade Commission’s Holder Rule;
- Defending a major student lender in an action alleging violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law;
- Defending financial institutions in individual, class actions and Attorney General investigations asserting violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, federal and state debt collection laws, antitrust laws and other state and federal disclosure and consumer protection-related laws and regulations and obtaining favorable settlements in numerous such actions;
- Advising major financial services companies and banks in conjunction with inquiries, examinations and investigations conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and state Attorneys General;
- Advising major financial services companies in complying with federal (notably, new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Dodd-Frank Act related rules and regulations) and state regulations affecting their businesses, including in the areas of mortgage origination and servicing, fair lending, credit card lending, credit card add-on products, student lending, debt collection, arbitration and electronic payments issues;
- Advising a major automobile manufacturer on state consumer protection laws, including lemon law and warranty disclosure laws;
- Providing antitrust advice and obtaining clearance from the Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission (as applicable) to, among others, Reuters in its merger with Thomson, New York Mercantile Exchange in its merger with CME Group, Avaya in its acquisition of Nortel’s Enterprise Solutions Business, Iron Mountain, Inc. in its sale of its digital business units to Autonomy Corp., plc, Johnson & Johnson in its acquisition of Synthes, Inc. and Univision Music Group in its sale to Universal Music Group.
Ms. Del Vecchio is a frequent speaker and writer on state and federal regulatory developments affecting credit unions, banks and other financial services companies. She previously served a full term as a member of the Executive Committee of the State Bar of California’s Business Law Section (now the California Lawyers Association) and served as Diversity Co-Coordinator. Before that, she chaired the Consumer Financial Services Committee of the Business Law Section. She is also an active member of World Council of Credit Union’s Global Woman’s Leadership Network and is active in her local community as an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Pasadena Jaycees and as a longstanding member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses.
Ms. Del Vecchio is admitted to the California, New York, District of Columbia and Connecticut state bars as well as the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of California, Central District of California, Southern District of California, Eastern District of California, Southern District of New York, District of Columbia and District of Connecticut.
Ms. Del Vecchio earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she clerked for the Honorable Henry J. Boroff, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Massachusetts and interned for almost two years with the Antitrust and Special Litigation Section of the State of Connecticut Office of the Attorney General. She also earned her Master of Science from the London School of Economics and Political Science, with merit, and her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from New York University. While in law school, she also taught undergraduate introductory economics courses at a local community college. She also is an avid patron of the performing and visual arts, having been a professionally trained classical ballet dancer with a brief professional ballet career while studying for her undergraduate degree.