Jones Walker LLP

In today's rapidly changing financial marketplace, financial institutions need a law firm that has a strong history and reputation in the industry, that understands business operations and the regulatory environment, and that helps evaluate the opportunities for operators and investors to respond quickly to the evolving and complex financial landscape. Jones Walker's Banking & Financial Services attorneys have that history, experience, and capacity. "Chambers USA – America's Leading Lawyers for Business" has ranked Jones Walker in the first band for Banking & Finance among firms in Louisiana since 2004. Jones Walker also received a fifth-place ranking in bank merger and acquisition transactions, as awarded by SNL Financial in 2007.

Representation & Experience

Jones Walker's Banking & Financial Services Practice Group represents local, regional and national banks; bank and financial holding companies, and their subsidiaries and affiliates, as well as other financial institutions. Our clients include domestic and foreign commercial banks and bank holding companies; savings associations; private equity, venture, debt, and hedge funds; investment banks; and other financial institutions and their investors. In addition, our attorneys represent a wide variety of other highly regulated financial service businesses, including broker-dealers, investment advisers, trust companies, onshore and offshore insurance and reinsurance companies and producers, managing general agents, pension funds and administrators, and related regulatory bodies.

Bank and Bank Holding Company Regulatory, Compliance & Operations

Our attorneys provide regulatory advice and representation to hundreds of financial institutions throughout the United States in connection with matters before state, federal, and foreign regulatory agencies. Our fluency in bank regulatory matters enables us to provide effective representation to investors and operators in virtually all matters, ranging from seeking new bank charters to expanding their operations, either by acquisition or by establishing new institutions, branches, or product lines. We work routinely with the OCC, Federal Reserve, the FDIC and analogous state regulatory agencies. We represent clients in purchases of failed banks from the FDIC and purchases of assets acquired by the FDIC in the course of its resolutions of failed banks. In addition, we represent a number of major financial institutions in matters before the United States Congress.

Members of our bank regulatory and compliance team work closely with attorneys in our government relations practice to stay abreast of the constantly changing legislative and regulatory environment.

Compliance

Our attorneys routinely represent banks, bank holding companies, insurance companies, securities firms, and other financial institutions regarding a wide range of compliance issues, including matters arising under the Bank Secrecy Act, requirements of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), privacy issues, and the development and implementation of anti-money laundering programs. Our attorneys have provided regular counsel to banking institutions ranging in size from $45 billion to $1 billion on the development of new products and services. In doing so, we have provided advice regarding consumer compliance, IT considerations and overall risk management. Our attorneys also provide multi-state advice for the development of compliance programs on regulatory issues such as flood insurance, BSA/AML, Regulation E, payment systems and identity theft. Jones Walker's Banking & Financial Services Practice Group attorneys are regular panelists on compliance topics including document retention, BSA/AML, Regulation E, payment systems and fraud prevention. We routinely draft and revise enterprise-wide policies and procedures and oversee their implementation.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Our attorneys have substantial depth in the merger and acquisition of regulated financial institutions. Our team has assisted parties in the acquisition or sale of over 150 institutions. Our experience includes successful applications with all federal banking regulators, SEC, FINRA, as well as the insurance departments and securities commissions of all fifty states.

Diversity Mission Statement

Jones Walker LLP strives to encourage, foster and increase diversity across the firm. To this end, the Diversity Committee has adopted the goal of fostering a work environment that welcomes different perspectives, backgrounds and life experiences and ensures that an individual’s professional growth, experience or advancement is not limited because of gender, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability or other similar factor.

Purposes of the Diversity Committee

• To increase awareness of the importance of diversity within the firm and of the means by which diversity enriches the firm;
• To encourage all lawyers and staff members to develop mutual respect and appreciation for different perspectives and backgrounds; and
• To develop and implement strategies to assist the firm in recruiting, retaining and advancing staff and lawyers from diverse backgrounds.
• Jones Walker values all employees who contribute positively to the firm’s practice, the firm’s environment, and the greater community we serve.

In 2009, Jones Walker was named to MultiCultural Law Magazine’s list of "Top 100 Law Firms for Women," part of a series of listings of the top 100 law firms for diversity. The listings are compiled based on diversity statistics derived from annual surveys that the publication sends to law firms with more than 100 attorneys.