Financial Services & Tax Policy

Financial Services Policy

We are an industry leader in representing capital markets participants on public policy and regulatory matters in the US, the EU, and around the globe.

We are intimately involved in issues regarding derivatives regulation, systemically important financial institution designations, the resolution authority, regulation of the insurance industry and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). 

With a deep understanding of the financial services sector, we are able to provide a perceptive and practical service. Our clients include broker-dealers, commercial and investment banks, critical financial market infrastructure, financial technology companies, fund groups, insurance companies, mortgage companies, and other participants in capital markets. We build long-term relationships with our clients, working together to devise responsible solutions that ensure their continued success.

Many of our lawyers and professionals have previously served at the highest levels within regulatory agencies and as internal counsel within the financial services industry. Our team includes former Members of Congress and former senior members of agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Reserve, as well as former senior staff from the Senate Finance Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, and the House Financial Services Committee.

We have longstanding relationships with and regularly appear before US federal and state agencies, as well as UK and EU regulatory agencies on behalf of domestic and international financial institutions, enabling us to stay at the forefront of regulatory developments and offer direct access and insights to our clients.

Our knowledge of, and deep experience with, relevant congressional committees, federal regulatory agencies and other branches of government enable us to identify and offer an array of solutions that blend our policy and regulatory strengths with our technical proficiency, particularly when an issue demands a solution that entails in-depth substantive knowledge and an inside perspective on how things work in Washington DC. 

Our team collaborates effectively across a diverse range of local, regional and international markets and business models – giving our clients a competitive advantage. Our core strengths include:

• Advancing clients’ interests before the US Administration, Congress and the regulatory agencies
• Maintaining close working relationships with policymakers and regulators
• Drafting and promoting proposed legislation and rulemaking language before the US Congress and with regulatory agencies
• Crafting reports, testimony, statutory language, legislative histories, briefs, talking points and comment letters
• Identifying and overcoming legislative and regulatory challenges
• Representing clients in government inquiries and investigations
• Building and leading coalitions and trade associations united for a common cause
• Enlisting the support of special interest groups, trade associations, grassroots organizations and local constituencies
• Anticipating opposition to business goals and developing strategies to engage government agencies to overcome these challenges
• Blocking or amending adverse legislation or regulations
• Providing legal analysis and issue management on legislative proposals and rulemakings
• Monitoring and reporting on legislative and regulatory developments such as hearings, meetings, panels, and conferences
• Advising on campaign finance laws and gift ban regulations
• Coordinating political fundraising efforts

Tax Policy

Our tax policy roots run deep, from before our extensive work on the Tax Reform Act of 1986, up to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 – and ongoing technical corrections to that legislation – and all tax-related legislation in between. The firm’s tax and public policy practitioners have worked for decades advocating before the Executive and Legislative branches at all levels to assist individual companies, trade associations, and industry groups achieve desired outcomes under the federal tax code.

We frequently advise clients on issues arising in connection with the broad-based tax reform proposals. The substantive areas covered by our client representations have been as varied as the tax code itself, including issues related to international tax, real estate, capital cost recovery, financial institutions and financial products, investment income and a broad range of investment vehicles, general business tax, employee benefits, and estate and gift tax.

We also advise clients seeking to understand the direction of tax policy so they may reflect on the effects of those trends and developments in their own strategic planning. Further, our team assists clients in tax policy matters before the US Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service, including providing advice and assistance in seeking or commenting on proposed regulations and other guidance. Finally, we have represented clients in numerous tax-related congressional investigations.

Because we have a strong tax planning and structuring practice spanning four continents and an unmatched tax policy team, which includes a former member and senior staff of the Senate Finance Committee, as well as former staff from the US Treasury Department, we are able to provide our tax policy clients with a depth of technical and policy expertise and provide expert counsel in:

• Drafting and commenting on legislative proposals
• Preparing technical analyses of proposed tax legislation
• Preparing white papers and other advocacy documents
• Assisting in the preparation of congressional testimony
• Developing and executing sophisticated legislative and regulatory advocacy strategies
• Arranging meetings with key members of Congress and the Administration, as well as the professional tax staffs

Our well-versed and highly adept tax team has led a myriad of successful legislative and regulatory advocacy efforts on behalf of clients in sectors such as financial services, not-for-profit, insurance, manufacturing, housing, health care, energy, communications, retail and technology.