Banking law covers the many state and federal regulations governing financial institutions. Attorneys who practice in this area of the law handle everything from customer disputes and complaints against a bank to complex litigation between domestic and foreign institutions, their investors, the government, and other parties. However, most banking law attorneys are hired to provide advice concerning regulatory compliance. Banks may choose to maintain in-house counsel for this purpose or to seek assistance from an independent law firm.

In the current regulatory environment, banks have no choice but to make compliance a priority. This can involve an expensive and labor-intensive process that will affect everyone within the organization. First, the applicable rules and regulations must be identified and ranked in order of the risk associated with noncompliance. This evaluation by itself will often require input from an attorney familiar with the bank’s operations. The next step will be to design and implement a compliance plan.