Warren W. Traiger

Warren W. Traiger has developed a nationally recognized reputation on consumer compliance matters with a focus on Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and fair and responsible banking issues. As Senior Counsel in the New York office of Buckley LLP, he advises clients on responding to allegations of discriminatory or unfair lending practices, including redlining and reverse redlining, and assists clients to design and implement appropriate preventative and detective controls to help avoid such claims.

Mr. Traiger argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Lee v. Board of Governors, a benchmark case regarding the rights of community organizations to challenge Federal Reserve Board (FRB) determinations on merger applications. He has testified before Congress and the federal banking agencies on fair lending and CRA reform, served as Special Counsel to the New York banking regulator on CRA, and advised the regulator on predatory lending regulation.

Mr. Traiger regularly assists banks and bank holding companies prepare the community convenience and needs portion of their regulatory applications to merge or acquire and helps clients respond to public comment regarding CRA and fair lending compliance. He represented a bank in its acquisition and integration of the finance arm of major automaker, directing pre-acquisition fair lending due diligence and updating the combined entity’s policies, procedures, and regulatory relations strategy. Mr. Traiger also served as an independent consultant for the New York Attorney General, overseeing compliance with that office’s settlement with a company that provides criminal background checks on prospective employees. 

A prolific writer and researcher, Mr. Traiger’s research and statistical analysis of mortgage lending data has been cited in publications of the Federal Reserve Banks of San Francisco, Boston, and Dallas, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and in testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Prior to joining Buckley, Mr. Traiger was Co-Chairman of Traiger & Hinckley LLP. Prior to entering private practice in 1990, Mr. Traiger was Vice President, Counsel and Director of Government Relations for the New York Bankers Association, the trade group for New York commercial banks. He has also served as Director of Legislation and Research and Special Counsel for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and as a New York State Consumer Protection Board official.

Mr. Traiger is entrenched in the New York legal and financial services community. He has served on the Banking Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association, as a member of the Banking Law and Consumer Law Committees of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and has taught as adjunct professor of Economics at Hunter College of the City University of New York. He received his J.D. from New York University and his B.A. from Cornell University (magna cum laude).