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Commercial and Consumer Financial Services Licensing

Greenberg Traurig’s Financial Regulatory & Compliance Practice lawyers represent a wide range of financial services companies, including lenders, payment providers, and cryptocurrency firms, assisting them with federal and state agency registrations, licenses, approvals, notifications, permits, and other required filings.

Our team has deep knowledge of financial services registration licensing requirements at the federal, state, and local levels.

Our licensing team advises financial services clients on the application and ongoing maintenance of federal registrations and state licenses (including change of control filings, legal entity conversions, and licensing for expansion of activities). Our clients include a wide variety of regulated entities, including money transmitters, crypto companies, mortgage, commercial and consumer finance companies, including but not limited to the representative clients noted below.

Overview

  • Experienced in financial services licensing and regulatory compliance matters in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories for a wide array of residential and commercial mortgage, consumer and commercial financial services, money transmission, currency exchange, prepaid access/stored value, digital wallet and cryptocurrency companies, including emerging fintech firms.
  • Well versed in registration and regulatory compliance issues overseen by federal government agencies, including FinCEN, HUD/FHA, Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, and USDA, and deep knowledge in complex financial services laws including the Truth in Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing (SAFE) Act, Bank Secrecy Act and their implementing regulations.

Services

  • Completing surveys covering federal and state registration/licensing, notification, and approval requirements for a wide array of regulated business activities.
  • Monitoring changes to federal and state laws and regulations and providing legal summaries regarding impacts to existing business activities.
  • Advising on structuring of new business lines and products, providing legal support and strategies for product development and business growth, and assisting with all regulatory interactions and development of controls.
  • Providing technical review and support for mortgage call reports, money services businesses call reports, and state-specific report filing requirements.
  • Performing gap reviews/analyses and examination preparedness programs for federal and state regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
  • Advising on federal and state regulatory examination requests and exams by the CFPB, IRS, and state regulatory agencies.
  • Assisting with the development of policies, procedures, and strategic initiatives to proactively address regulatory compliance deficiencies or deficiencies identified through audits.
  • Performing regulatory due diligence and risk assessments in connection with secondary market or M&A transactions involving the above-described financial services companies or products.
  • Reviewing transaction documents for purchases, sales, and securitizations of consumer and commercial mortgages, loans, leases, and retail installment contracts for regulatory considerations.
  • Submitting state license applications and foreign “doing business” registrations with the secretaries of state.
  • Monitoring of federal and state licenses, regulations, notifications, or other approvals to help prevent lapses.
  • Providing support for addressing inquiries and investigations by state regulators.
  • Managing federal and state change-in-control notices and approval applications for money transmitter, virtual currency, residential and commercial mortgage companies, and commercial and consumer finance companies.
  • Registering the above-described companies with the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry (NMLS) and other state online and paper licensing systems.