
Magda Gathani
Associate
Biography
Magda Gathani is an Associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Buckley LLP, where she assists clients in a wide range of regulatory, compliance, and licensing matters. She represents financial institutions and fintech companies, including money transmitters, online marketplace providers, cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians, and various related service providers. She advises payments companies and commercial clients engaged in money transmission with regard to federal and state compliance, including the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), anti-money-laundering (AML) laws, licensing obligations, and consumer compliance.
Ms. Gathani’s representative matters include:
- Advising clients on the applicability of the BSA and state money-transmitter licensing laws to existing and proposed practices, including analysis of applicable exemptions
- Representing clients in response to regulatory inquiries or examination findings related to money transmission compliance
- Addressing payments regulatory and licensing issues for transactional matters
- Assisting a large financial institution in an AML-related internal investigation
- Advising a Latin American e-commerce and digital payments company on the applicability of OFAC requirements to various business models
Ms. Gathani also counsels clients on consumer privacy issues arising from the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Regulation P, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the New York Department of Financial Services Cybersecurity Rules (NYDFS Cybersecurity Rules), and other state and federal laws that address data privacy and information security.
Ms. Gathani’s recent privacy and data security experience includes:
- Assisting clients in designing and implementing CCPA compliance programs, including advising on GLBA exemption
- Drafting privacy policies, procedures, and website disclosures for financial and non-financial institutions
- Preparing privacy and cybersecurity law inventories tailored to a national bank’s and insurance company’s business models to allow for identification of regulatory requirements in their daily operations
- Advising a bank on whether its practices with respect to hashed data triggered Regulation P when shared with third-party joint marketing partners
Ms. Gathani received her J.D. in 2016 from The George Washington University, where she served as the Current Developments and Projects Editor of the International Law in Domestic Courts Journal. She earned her B.A. in 2011 from the University of California, Berkeley.
Publications
"Confusion surrounding the Privacy Shield rollback" by Amanda R. Lawrence, Elizabeth E. McGinn, and Magda Gathani
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) last month invalidated the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, which over 5,000 companies have relied on as a legal mechanism of transferring data from the EU to the United States.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) did not provide a grace...
Buckley Commentary & Analysis"Don’t let your shield down—FTC gets tough on EU-U.S. privacy shield framework" by Elizabeth E. McGinn and Magda Gathani (Bloomberg Law)
The Federal Trade Commission took more enforcement actions related to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework in 2019 and the beginning of 2020 than it did in the prior three years combined. The FTC also has alleged deception in many cases where there was no indication that any misrepresentations...
Articles"Website cookies and privacy—GDPR, CCPA, and evolving standards for online consent" by Amanda R. Lawrence, Sasha Leonhardt, and Magda Gathani (Bloomberg Law)
Virtually all companies with high-traffic websites use cookies to track visitors’ online experience, but global best practices in disclosing the use of cookies—and obtaining visitors’ consent to their use—have proven elusive despite intense scrutiny from privacy advocates. With requirements varying...
Articles"Navigating today’s biometric landscape" by Elizabeth E. McGinn, Scott T. Sakiyama, Magda Gathani, and Garylene D. Javier (Cybersecurity Law Report)
Biometrics-based authentication of payments and other transactions has been on the rise for the past several years, promising unparalleled convenience and security for consumers. However, the distinctive nature of biometric features that confers its advantages is also the source of the technology’s...
Articles
Education
- J.D., George Washington University, 2016
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 2011
Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Virginia