Preemption: The Uncertain Landscape | NAFCU Webinar

Webinar | February.07.2023 | 2pm - 3pm (Eastern Standard Time)

Webinar - Recording Available

State legislatures have adopted a number of consumer protection statutes addressing lending and deposit taking activities by financial institutions including federal credit unions. While courts have historically found such laws preempted by federal banking laws, including the Federal Credit Union Act, judicial trends away from preemption have called into question the applicability of these state consumer protection statutes to federal credit union lending and deposit taking activities. Sasha Leonhardt, Caroline Stapleton, and Benjamin Litchfield discussed the fundamentals of federal credit union preemption, recent judicial trends away from preemption, and explored hot topics affecting credit unions and the broader industry.

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Speakers

Sasha Leonhardt Partner, Financial & Fintech Advisory, Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

Washington, D.C.

See my bio

D:+1 202 349 7971
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Financial & Fintech Advisory
Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)
Cyber, Privacy & Data Innovation
Fintech
Government Investigations and Enforcement Actions

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Sasha Leonhardt Partner

Washington, D.C.

Sasha also has substantial experience advising clients on the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), Military Lending Act (MLA), Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Fair Housing Act (FHA), and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). He advises companies, non-profits and industry associations with consumer privacy issues arising from the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Regulation P, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and its Affiliate Marketing Rule and state and federal laws that address data privacy and information security.

In addition to representing clients, Sasha has published numerous articles on various aspects of consumer financial services law and practice, including data privacy, class action litigation, white collar litigation, whistleblower lawsuits and recent trends in regulation and enforcement. He also maintains an active pro bono practice and serves as a member of the Legal Counsel for the Elderly’s Young Lawyers Alliance. A frequent speaker on a variety of legal topics, Sasha has taught at Duke University School of Law and American University Washington College of Law, and was previously a Professorial Lecturer in Law at the George Washington University Law School.

Prior to joining Orrick, Sasha was a partner at Buckley LLP. He also previously served as Deputy Press Secretary to Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. He is accredited as a Privacy Law Specialist, a Fellow of Information Privacy, a Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM/US), and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) by the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Caroline Stapleton Partner, Financial & Fintech Advisory, Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)

Washington, D.C.

See my bio

D:+1 202 461 2904
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Financial & Fintech Advisory
Strategic Advisory & Government Enforcement (SAGE)
Fintech

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See full bio

Caroline Stapleton Partner

Washington, D.C.

Client-centered experiences are at the heart of Caroline’s practice. She has provided a wide variety of institutions, from fintech startups to multinational banks, with tailored, practical guidance that considers each company’s unique characteristics and strategic goals. Caroline draws on her prior experiences as an attorney at a federal prudential regulator and as the head of compliance at a consumer finance company to give clients a comprehensive picture of the legal risks and opportunities each new matter presents.

Her work on behalf of financial services providers has included:

Providing guidance regarding novel or complex regulatory questions, often in the context of developing new financial products and services
Performing compliance risk assessments of marketing, underwriting, pricing, origination, servicing and loss mitigation activities
Advising banks and supervised lenders with examinations by federal and state regulators, including responding to exam findings, CAMELS ratings, Matters Requiring Attention (MRA/MRIA) and enforcement referrals
Strategically responding to and defending enforcement actions by state and federal regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board and Department of Justice (DOJ), and, if necessary, negotiating favorable settlements
Developing strategies for bank partnership, state licensing and bank charter opportunities for consumer financial services providers
Conducting internal investigations of suspected misconduct or violations of an institution’s policies and/or regulatory requirements

In these and other representations, Caroline brings strong substantive knowledge of the key federal and state statutes and regulations governing the financial services industry. Her specific areas of focus include:

Fair lending and anti-discrimination laws, including the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
Prohibitions on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAP and UDAAP)
Technical regulatory compliance under federal and state laws governing loan marketing, disclosures, settlement practices, servicing and collection practices, consumer reporting and electronic payments
Federal preemption, including under the National Bank Act
Compliance management best practices and regulatory expectations, including third-party vendor and merchant oversight
Treatment and disclosure of confidential supervisory information (CSI)
State lease-to-own laws and regulations

Prior to joining Orrick, Caroline was senior counsel at Buckley LLP. She also has served as an attorney-advisor in the litigation division of the OCC, where she represented the agency in civil litigation, bank receivership preparation, employment disputes and other administrative contexts. Caroline also gained valuable in-house experience as the head of compliance and assistant general counsel of a Richmond-based consumer finance company.