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Joseph & Cohen Client Alert: Large and Small Lenders Alike Need Consumer Compliance Management

Does your banking or financial service business have an effective Compliance Management System (CMS) in place? A new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and recent litigation initiated by the New York Attorney General and the U.S. Department of Justice should cause bankers and other financial service businesses to reevaluate their CMS programs. On August 21, 2013, the CFPB published its Supervisory Highlights report of 2013 underlining the critical need for compliance management systems for both banks and other financial service providers to effectively prevent violations of Federal and state consumer financial laws and mitigate harm to consumers.

Feds Bite Largest Bitcoin Exchange: Lessons for Virtual Currency Entrepreneurs

By Jonathan D. Joseph When the US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a/k/a FinCEN, published an interpretative ruling on March 18, 2013 discussing how its regulations applied to users, exchangers and administrators of virtual currencies, Mt. Gox, the world’s largest exchange for Bitcoin transactions, should have taken note. Mt. Gox and other early pioneers in the virtual currency space have anarchist roots and generally eschew governmental regulation; however, it is now clear that the survivors in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency ecosystem will be those that successfully navigate the complex web of federal and state money transmission laws and regulations. Earlier

Joseph & Cohen Elevates Ken Sayre-Peterson to Partner

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – May 1, 2013. Joseph & Cohen, a Professional Corporation headquartered in San Francisco, announced today that Kenneth Sayre-Peterson has been elected a partner following his successful stint as Of Counsel with the firm that began in February 2012. Managing Partner, Jonathan Joseph stated, “Joseph & Cohen’s clients have benefited from Ken Sayre-Peterson’s enormous expertise in bank regulation, credit union matters, financial services, corporate transactions, money transmitter compliance and bank enforcement work.  He has helped to secure the firm’s position as one of the leading bank and depository institution regulatory practices in California. Elevating Ken to partner

Joseph & Cohen Rolls Out New Marketing Campaign

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – March 22, 2013. Joseph & Cohen, headquartered in San Francisco, rolled out a new marketing campaign today as part of its sponsorship of the Western Independent Bankers’ (WIB) Annual Conference for Bank Presidents, Senior Officers & Directors being held in Kauai, HI from March 23 – 27, 2013. Managing Partner Jonathan Joseph notes, “Joseph & Cohen is proud to be a major sponsor of WIB for the fourth consecutive year. WIB’s commitment to assist bankers and directors in navigating the complex changes in the industry mirrors our own.” For this year’s marketing sponsorship, Joseph & Cohen,

Joseph & Cohen Settles All Claims by FDIC Against Five Former Officers of County Bank

SAN  FRANCISCO,  CA  –  November  13,  2012. Joseph  &  Cohen,  Professional Corporation, located in San Francisco, California, announced today that it successfully structured a settlement for its clients, five former officers of County Bank, Merced, California,  in  connection  with  a  lawsuit  brought  by  the  Federal  Deposit  Insurance Corporation, in its capacity as receiver for County Bank.   County Bank, which collapsed in February 2009, had been the wholly-owned banking subsidiary of Capital Corp of the West (Nasdaq: CCOW). The case, which was filed by the FDIC in the Federal Court in Fresno, California in January 2012, was titled FDIC, as receiver

Feds Target Payday Lenders: The New Enforcement Reality

By Marie Hogan and Jonathan Joseph The President of the United States sent a wake-up call to the payday lending industry in his 2012 State of the Union speech that they are a target of federal enforcement action by the new Consumer Protection Financial Bureau or CFPB. President Obama exclaimed: “If you’re a mortgage lender or payday lender or a credit card company, the days of signing people up for products they can’t afford with confusing forms and deceptive practices—those days are over.” Almost a week before the speech, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the newest federal agency whose name

Department of Financial Institutions Attorney Ken Sayre-Peterson Joins Joseph & Cohen – Expands Firm’s Core Regulatory Practice

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – February 21, 2012.   Joseph & Cohen, Professional Corporation, announced today it has expanded the depth and scope of its bank regulatory, financial services and legislative practice with the addition of Kenneth Sayre-Peterson as Of Counsel.  Sayre-Peterson elected to join Joseph & Cohen following his retirement from the California Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), where he served in various legal capacities during a lengthy career, most recently having acted as the DFI’s General Counsel. Kenneth Sayre-Peterson acted as the General Counsel for the California Department of Financial Institutions from June 2007 until his retirement in November 2011. 

406 Bank Failures Since 2008 – Lessons for the Survivors

By Jonathan Joseph* Since the initial crush of the financial crisis in the summer of 2008, 406 banks have failed. As of October 24, 2011, the FDIC has authorized suits in connection with 34 failed institutions and 308 officers and directors for D&O liability of at least $7.3 billion. The current cycle of litigation initiated by the FDIC has begun slowly, however, now that that more than three years has elapsed since the first major bank failure occurred in July 2008, the pace of lawsuits against former bank officers and directors will increase markedly. Since more than 335 of the

Claims Against Failed Bank D&O’s Will Spike in 2012

By Jonathan Joseph* The total number of bank failures since the banking crisis began in 2008 is now dangerously close to 400. To date, the FDIC has only filed 14 lawsuits against failed bank directors and officers from thirteen different failed banks.  A total of 103 former bank directors and officers have been named in these suits. Based on published statistics and our own analysis of U.S. bank failures from the banking crisis of 2008 to September 16, 2011, JCD Law believes that approximately 80 additional suits will be brought by the FDIC, as receiver, in the next two years.

California’s New Money Transmission Law Sweeps Up

By Marie Hogan* Effective as of January 1, 2011, California’s sweeping new Money Transmission Act (the “MTAct”) became applicable to the money transmission business. The MTAct expanded the state’s regulation and license requirements for money transmitters by covering domestic money transmitters, including stored value device issuers and other businesses that offer new types of alternative payment and mobile applications.  The new law assigns regulation and licensing authority to the California Department of Financial Institutions Background The regulation of money transmission varies from state to state, but most states regulate domestic money transmission involving their residents. The MTAct now covers domestic money