Banking & Financial Institutions

The attorneys at SmithAmundsen have a long history of representing financial institutions and today are involved in every major aspect impacting the banking industry. We provide guidance and counsel to our financial institution clients on all of their operational, regulatory, and lending needs. We are regularly engaged to assist in matters such as:

• Mergers and acquisitions
• Capital raising
• Stock repurchase plans
• Public company reporting matters
• Branch acquisitions and/or branch sales
• Subsidiary formation and expansion of operations
• New product development
• Consumer compliance
• Loan documentation and related issues
• Regulatory compliance and supervision
• Regulatory enforcement issues and negotiations
• Employment law matters
• Executive compensation matters
• Employee benefit plans, both qualified and non-qualified
• Strategic analysis

In today’s environment of enhanced scrutiny of financial institutions, boards of directors and executive management demand experienced, seasoned legal counsel to deliver a full range of legal services. Our banking and financial institutions attorneys assist financial institutions through all phases of their life cycle from their formation to their maturity. The scope and quality of our work reflects a high level of familiarity with the financial services industry, the regulatory process, and the current issues confronting financial institutions. 

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS

Our financial institutions attorneys offer pragmatic advice to boards of directors and executive officers of publicly traded and privately held financial institutions with respect to the merger and acquisitions planning, process, and opportunities; the fiduciary duties of directors and officers; and, corporate governance best practices. We represent financial institutions on both the buy and the sell side in the negotiation, documentation and closing of complex mergers, asset acquisitions, stock purchases, and confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements.

COMMERCIAL LENDING AND CREDITORS RIGHTS

Our banking and financial institutions attorneys assist banks and other financial institutions through all phases of the credit life cycle, commitment letter, underwriting, documentation, re-documentation, enforcement, and, should the need arise, representation in bankruptcy proceedings.

COMMERCIAL & BANKING LITIGATION

We offer clients skilled, practical, and experienced counseling and support to assist with all types of business problems. Our attorneys are as comfortable in small town courtrooms as in federal courtrooms around the nation. Often, because of our years of experience counseling businesses of all sizes, our attorneys are called on by clients to serve as general corporate counsel, or as liaison with a client’s general counsel, to administer all types of litigation matters.

We provide for our lender-clients’ needs on all levels, from defending lender liability actions, to enforcing rights against borrowers in state courts and before the federal (including bankruptcy) courts. Our litigators represent lenders in actions to recover unpaid obligations from principals and guarantors, foreclosures, and assertion of claims for fraud on the part of borrowers or their principals.

BANKING OPERATIONS

We offer effective, efficient, and economical service in responding to the unique problems lenders routinely face in operational areas, such as regulatory issues, records subpoenas, grand jury subpoenas, citations to discover assets, wage garnishment and non-wage garnishment summonses. We also assist our clients in developing internal policies and procedures when legal rights and obligations could be affected by them.

Recognitions

U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” 2021 – Financial Services Regulation Law – Tier 2 – Indianapolis Metropolitan Area

U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” 2021 – Banking and Finance Law – Tier 3 – Indianapolis Metropolitan Area

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