Financial Services

Kathleen Scott is a counsel in the Financial Services group, where she represents banking clients with respect to the regulatory aspects of mergers and acquisitions, establishment of new banking organizations and nonbanking affiliates, and other transactions. Ms. Scott concentrates her practice on providing bank advisory legal advice to foreign and domestic banks on a broad range of bank regulatory issues, and interacts regularly with federal and New York state banking regulators. She also counsels banking organizations and other financial institutions on their compliance with federal consumer, privacy, and anti-money laundering legislation and regulations. In addition, she provides US bank regulatory assistance to the firm's transactional and litigation practice groups.

Prior to joining the private sector, Ms. Scott served as a senior staff attorney at the New York State Banking Department, where she focused on international banking matters. While at the New York State Banking Department, she also worked on several major enforcement actions, oftentimes in conjunction with other state and federal regulatory agencies, and now in private practice continues to represent clients facing enforcement or other supervisory actions brought by state and federal banking regulators. She also has been a member of the Connecticut Banking Commissioner's working group dedicated to international banking matters. 

Ms. Scott has extensive experience in bank liquidation matters, having assisted in the liquidation of the New York office of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, S.A., and the liquidation of Nationar, an uninsured "banker's bank" for the thrift industry, as day-to-day legal liaison between the New York State Banking Department and those conducting the liquidation, and overseer of outside counsel and other consultants. She also co-drafted many of the amendments to the New York Banking Law that were made after each of these liquidations.

Ms. Scott is a former chair of the New York City Bar, Banking Law Committee, and since 2005 has written an international banking law column for the New York Law Journal.

Financial Services Representative Matters

• Obtained federal and state regulatory approvals for numerous clients regarding financial holding company status, mergers, acquisitions, and new products.
• Developed and implemented plan for chartering of a bank by a major non-bank financial institution, including obtaining all state and federal regulatory approvals.
• Obtained the first "complementary to financial" order from the Federal Reserve Board on an insurance-related product.
• Developed and implemented strategies for the US expansion of a major foreign bank, including seeking all state and federal regulatory approvals.
• Negotiated major enforcement actions from both the private sector and public sector sides for US banks and US offices of foreign banks, and assisted clients with enforcement action compliance.
• With respect to the reorganization of a major Italian bank, obtained US federal and New York state regulatory approvals, and coordinated other US state approvals.
• Developed and implemented strategies regarding, and obtained regulatory approvals for, internal reorganizations for certain US banking organizations, including preparation of all corporate documents and regulatory applications.
• Certified as a New York state foreign bank liquidation law expert for purposes of testifying in Bankruptcy Court in a unique bank liquidation case.
• Represented the receiver of a failed New York bank, who under unique circumstances had been appointed to that position by the New York Superintendent of Banks.