In today's rapidly changing financial marketplace, financial services providers and their investors need a law firm that has a strong history and reputation in the industry, that understands business operations and the regulatory environment, and that helps evaluate the opportunities for operators and investors to respond quickly to the new and complex financial landscape. Jones Walker's Banking & Financial Services attorneys have that history, experience, and capacity. "Chambers USA – America's Leading Lawyers for Business" has ranked Jones Walker in the first band for Banking & Finance among firms in Louisiana since 2004. Furthermore, the addition of attorneys from Miller, Hamilton, Snider & Odom in 2008 brought a fifth-place ranking—among the top law firms in the Southeast—in bank merger and acquisition transactions, as awarded by SNL Financial in 2007.

Jones Walker's Banking & Financial Services attorneys represent local, regional, and national banks; financial services companies; and intermediaries. Our clients include domestic and foreign commercial banks and bank holding companies; savings associations; private equity, venture, debt, and hedge funds; investment banks; and other financial institutions and their investors. In particular, we represent domestic and foreign commercial banks and bank holding companies; savings associations; private equity, venture, debt, and hedge funds; investment banks, other financial institutions, and their investors in connection with corporate and securities law; boards of directors and special/independent committees on general corporate governance, conflicts of interest, and various regulatory investigations and issues that arise before state and federal supervisory agencies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve, the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS).

The group also handles matters relating to debt and equity financing, including securitization; mergers and acquisitions; mutual-to-stock thrift conversions; bank and thrift charter conversions; industry-specific regulatory compliance; fund formation; bankruptcy; distressed debt and workouts; litigation; employee benefits; and taxation.

Jones Walker's Banking & Financial Services attorneys belong to numerous trade and professional organizations. They are often featured as speakers for professional, trade, and business seminars, and are published on a regular basis. In addition, a number of attorneys in the group have held senior positions in various regulatory and supervisory agencies, and therefore have intimate knowledge of the banking and financial services industry and of the regulatory regimes to which the industry and its participants and investors are subject.

• John C. Blackman, IV has served as a director of The Ouachita National Bank in Monroe, Louisiana, and its successor, Premier Bank. As a member of the board of directors, he also served as a member of the executive committee, as chairman of the special projects committee, and as chairman of the compensation committee, and remained in those positions until Premier was sold to Banc One in 1996.
• Edward B. Crosland, Jr. served as a staff attorney in the Division of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For two years, he was assigned to the Senate Banking Committee in connection with its review of the U.S. securities markets.
• Palmer C. Hamilton has held several senior posts within multiple administrations, and has been active representing clients in Congress for three decades in the areas of finance and government affairs. Mr. Hamilton's prior governmental experience includes service as an Assistant to the Comptroller of the Currency and Chief of New Bank Chartering for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Mr. Hamilton has also served on various federal, state, and city boards. He has been active in the political realm in support of various candidacies, including his service as Chairman of the Reelection Committee for U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, the Ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee.
• Regina N. Hamilton served as general counsel and as a corporate trust attorney for Bank One, Louisiana, N.A. Ms. Hamilton served as Branch Chief, Office of Chief Counsel, where she administered the International Affairs Program for the Division of Investment Management, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C. She was an SEC Senior Staff Attorney on the Special Investment Management Task Force, where she developed regulatory programs for international investment companies and advisers.
• Arnold I Havens served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2004–2006.
• H. Gary Pannell served as Regional Counsel for the Sixth National Bank Region of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from 1973–1983, and as District Counsel for the Southeastern District of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency from 1983–2000. Since 2004, he has been a member of the Board of Advisors of the North Carolina Banking Institute, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta since January 1, 2008.
• Ronald A. Snider served in the regulatory division of the General Counsel's office of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (predecessor to the U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision) from 1973–1975, and as Assistant Secretary of the Board from 1975–1979.
  
  In addition, we represent a wide variety of other highly regulated financial service businesses, including onshore and offshore insurance and reinsurance companies and producers, including insurance agents, third-party administrators, managing general agents, and brokers; investment companies and investment advisers; pension funds and administrators; and related regulatory bodies.

News

• Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Leigh Lichty Pipkin Joins Jones Walker
• Musso and Waters Co-Author Article in Banking Traditions
• LeMaistre Authors Viewpoint on Gulf Banks and Oil Spill in American Banker
• Four Jones Walker Attorneys Listed in Alabama Super Lawyers 2010

Events

• "Overdraft Opt-Ins: Protecting Your Bank Under Regulation E"
• North Carolina Banking Institute

Publications

• "Viewpoint: Give Gulf Banks a Break on Property Appraisals"
  George A. LeMaistre, Jr.
  American Banker, July 23, 2010