Jim Bergin is a partner at Arnold & Porter. Mr. Bergin is the former acting co-general counsel, deputy general counsel and chief of staff of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, is a member of the firm’s financial services practice.  He advises clients as they navigate the complex and ever-changing financial and banking landscape.  As a member of the leadership team at the New York Fed over many years, Mr. Bergin interacted with a wide variety of domestic and foreign supervisory authorities and central banks.  As acting co-general counsel, Mr. Bergin served as part of the New York Fed’s executive management and oversaw the activities of the legal group, including the legal, compliance and bank applications functions.  He advised senior management on a wide range of matters, including regulation and supervision of financial institutions; monetary policy and implementation; financial services and accounts matters and corporate governance and risk management.

Amber Hay is a partner at Arnold & Porter and primarily advises traditional financial institutions (banks, savings associations, and credit unions), nonbank financial services companies, as well as financial technology companies on a wide range of regulatory, transactional, and general corporate matters.  This includes matters within the supervisory jurisdiction of the Federal Reserve Board, the OCC, the FDIC, the CFPB, and FinCEN, as well as state financial regulatory agencies.  Ms. Hay routinely advises clients on laws, regulations, and legislative developments related to prudential regulations, virtual currencies (including Stablecoins and other digital assets), electronic payments, custodian activities including those involving digital wallets, and service provider arrangements between banks and non-banks (e.g., banking as a service and third-party vendor management).  Ms. Hay also advises clients in the structuring of corporate transactions and commercial arrangements related to the offering of payments and credit products and services using technology, as well as the acquisition and sale of financial institutions and non-bank financial service companies.

Ms. Hay is a member of the firm’s working groups on ESG matters, cryptocurrency, Web3 and blockchain technology, and developments under the Biden Administration.

Rob Azarow is a partner at Arnold & Porter and head of their financial institutions transactions practice.  He has extensive experience advising banks and other financial institutions on their most important transactional, corporate governance, and regulatory matters.  Mr. Azarow’s experience includes serving as lead corporate, transaction and regulatory counsel on financial institution mergers & acquisitions, financial asset acquisitions, branch purchases, joint ventures and collaboration agreements with fintech companies and other non-bank financial services providers, takeover defense strategies, and acquisitions of failed financial institutions and distressed assets from the FDIC.

Mr. Azarow also has extensive experience with public and private offerings of equity, debt, and hybrid securities, securities law compliance and related disclosure matters including how to incorporate ESG disclosures and the impact of ESG issues on investor activism. 

Further, Mr. Azarow has assisted financial institutions with their regulatory compliance matters, including response to examination issues, capital management and growth activities.