Overview
Disruptive change continues to remake the financial industry, feeding an appetite for creative transactions involving both traditional banking entities and emerging fintech companies. The convergence of these two sectors has created a lively market for companies seeking partners who can help fill the exploding demand for faster, smarter and more mobile financial services.
In the same fashion, regional and community banks continue to grow organically and through the acquisition of other traditional financial institutions. They frequently seek private and public capital to support their growth and meet the day-to-day challenges of operating in a highly regulated environment.
Many forces drive these transactions. Regulatory pressures—and expensive compliance rules—encourage the formation of larger business platforms to help spread the costs and require enhanced capital structures. Meanwhile, innovative technology providers have brought new forms of competition, tempting more traditional players to join forces with tech-forward newcomers who might otherwise intrude on their markets or direct financial institutions to join with others to build efficiencies.
The legal issues that accompany these transactions can be remarkably complex, especially when heavily regulated community and regional banks seek to combine or partner with fintech providers whose regulatory framework is still in the formative stage.
Decades of Experience Work to Your Advantage
Manatt brings a long record of success to this dynamic environment. Our in-depth understanding of the financial services industry goes back five decades, during which time we have participated in many of the seminal transactions that have defined the industry.
We have formed lasting relationships with key players in both the public and private sectors, and our clients include some of the industry’s largest and most influential brick-and-mortar institutions. At the same time, we have served as a frequent catalyst in the emergence of the new breed of digital technology companies that are currently reshaping the financial services landscape.
Our counsel to clients helps them successfully navigate through regulatory challenges and we regularly advise boards of directors and senior officers on how to meet their compliance obligations. We can advise you on the full range of regulatory issues and prepare you for new and evolving responsibilities. We help your company engage with your counterparts and interface with your communities. We are especially attuned to issues that arise from the marriage of regulated and unregulated entities.
In an industry where credibility is paramount, our strong skills, deep experience and solid relationships stand out against a backdrop of robust transformation.
Who we work with
Our team works with every type of financial institution in banking, consumer financial services and global payments. They include:
- Community, regional, national and foreign banks
- Consumer financial service providers and mortgage leaders
- Payment providers, processors and networks
- Marketplace lenders
- Investment banks
- Specialty finance companies
- Fintech companies
- Trust companies
- Underwriters and placement agents
What we do
Our services include:
- General corporate, securities and tax
- Contract review and negotiation
- Corporate governance
- Bank formation (de novo)
- Fairness opinion review
- M&A transactions
- Cash management
- Due diligence
- Capital markets
- Creditors’ rights
- Insurance
- Public company reporting
- Regulatory advice and compliance
- Real estate, commercial and mortgage lending
- State money transmitter laws
Related Practices
Clients
American River Bank
AvidBank
Central Pacific Financial Corporation
Citizens Business Bank
Jiko Group
JMP Securities
Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc.
Nano Financial Holdings
Next Gen Financial
Piper Sandler Companies (fka Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P.)
Runa Capital
