We are an established leader in the banking industry. We have served as counsel to hundreds of banks and thrifts across the country on a wide variety of transactional, regulatory and compliance matters. We also represent other financial services companies in the areas of insurance, consumer finance and mortgage banking.

A number of our lawyers have held positions at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (predecessor to the Office of Thrift Supervision) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This experience is invaluable as we regularly represent clients before the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision and many state banking regulators.

Our experience working with mutual thrifts is unsurpassed. We are the leading firm in representing mutual financial institutions in their conversion to stock form, having been involved in the issuance of more than $5.7 billion of common stock for such companies. As both issuer's counsel and underwriter's counsel, we also have worked on numerous mutual holding company reorganizations and second-step conversions.

We regularly advise financial institutions on chartering options, including charter conversions, holding company formations and public and private mutual holding companies.

We represent businesses and investors in all aspects of chartering de novo banks and thrifts and continue to advise such institutions through their start-up period and beyond on corporate, regulatory and securities matters.

With respect to mergers and acquisitions, we are one of the leading law firms in the financial services industry. From 1994 through 2005, our attorneys participated in more than 200 bank and thrift acquisitions. Our experience in the financial services industry extends to acquisitions of a variety of related businesses, including mortgage brokers, insurance agencies, finance companies and data processors. We also are experienced with unique acquisition structures, such as mergers between mutual financial institutions and acquisitions by and of mutual holding companies.

We routinely advise financial institutions and their holding companies on a wide variety of regulatory and compliance matters, including regulatory enforcement matters, lending limitations, electronic banking, privacy, non-deposit investment products, anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, Patriot Act and community reinvestment.