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Dwight Smith’s practice focuses on bank regulatory and compliance, corporate, and consumer finance matters. His clients include bank and thrift organizations of all sizes across the country, as well as nonbanks that provide financial products and services, such as alternative lenders and payment processors.
Mr. Smith has advised clients on new duties and obligations arising from the government's response to the financial crisis, including the Dodd-Frank Act, new capital requirements, the response to the too-big-to-fail phenomenon and changes in bank supervision—developments that impact all bank and thrift organizations.
He provides counseling and assistance with bank mergers, public and private securities offerings, internal management, and the organization of new banks; advice to payment processors on Regulation E; and assistance to providers of nonbank products and services on state licensing and regulation; and counseling to banks and nonbanks on trust and other fiduciary activities, including compliance with federal and state law on wealth and asset management.
Mr. Smith counsels banks and nonbanks on compliance with the consumer financial protection statutes, the Bank Secrecy Act, the Community Reinvestment Act, and federal and state privacy statutes. In particular, he has focused on the laws affecting credit and debit cards and residential mortgage lending.
Previous Experience
- U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Thrift Supervision, Deputy Chief Counsel, Business Transactions; Deputy Chief Counsel, Legal Policy
July 2, 2020, Cov Financial Services
Yesterday, July 1, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council released a Joint Statement on Managing the LIBOR Transition (the “Joint Statement”). The Joint Statement discusses the LIBOR replacement issues at a high level and “does not establish new guidance or regulation.” The Joint Statement does not mandate SOFR or any other rate as the ...
June 29, 2020, Covington Alert
On June 25, 2020, five federal financial regulators jointly issued a final rule that modifies existing regulations implementing the Volcker Rule’s general prohibition on banking entities investing in, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with hedge funds or private equity funds (collectively, “covered funds”). The substance of the final rule is largely ...
June 3, 2020, Covington Alert
On May 27, 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston ("FRBB") posted a number of documents that provide important additional details about its Main Street Lending Program ("MSLP"), including updated FAQs, new required agreements and forms, and new lender and borrower guides. The following summary highlights key FAQ changes and summarizes each of the new MSLP ...
May 4, 2020, Covington Alert
On May 4, 2020, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “FRBNY”) released an updated series of Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) regarding two of the Federal Reserve’s liquidity facilities established to provide financial assistance to businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility (“PMCCF”) and the Secondary ...
May 1, 2020, Covington Alert
Yesterday, April 30, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System announced important changes to the Main Street Lending Program (the “Program”) that it had introduced on April 9, 2020. The changes reflect further information and clarification with respect to the terms and conditions of the Program and address, at least in part, feedback that the ...
April 23, 2020, Covington Alert
As the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) is about to re-open following passage of a bill that will provide additional $310 billion in funds to the program (including funds reserved for loans by certain small and mid-sized lenders), the rules of the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) that prohibit or restrict loans to the small business ventures of bank ...
April 9, 2020, Covington Alert
Today, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve announced the creation of four new liquidity facilities and the expansion of three previously announced liquidity facilities to provide credit to borrowers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas the previously announced programs primarily targeted certain financial markets and their participants (such as ...
March 25, 2020, Covington Alert
The U.S. Congress appears close to finalizing the scale and scope of stimulus legislation to address the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although its final shape remains uncertain, it is highly likely to provide for one or more lending programs, loan guaranty programs, and other financing programs administered by the federal government to direct ...
March 24, 2020, Covington Alert
The past several days have seen a flurry of activity among the federal banking agencies to take both proactive and responsive steps to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the banking industry and support continued lending to the real economy as the crisis unfolds. In case you missed it, here’s a quick recap of recent federal banking agency actions, along with ...
March 24, 2020, Covington Alert
On March 23, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “FRB”) announced the latest in a series of extraordinary actions intended to help mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. economy. Unlike the measures announced last week – which mostly involved re-establishing emergency programs that were used during the 2008–09 financial ...
March 19, 2020, Covington Alert
Yesterday, on March 18, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) announced the creation of a Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility (“MMLF”) to provide liquidity support to money market mutual funds (“MMMFs”) by facilitating their sale of certain assets in order to meet redemption requests. Under the MMLF, the Federal Reserve ...
The FDIC's Proposed Rule for Industrial Banks and Industrial Loan Companies: Five Things to Know
March 19, 2020, Covington Alert
On March 17, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would codify the FDIC’s existing supervisory processes and policies that apply to industrial banks and industrial loan companies (collectively, “ILCs”) and their parent companies. The FDIC issued the Proposal to formalize its ILC supervisory framework and to ...
March 18, 2020, Covington Alert
Yesterday, on March 17, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“FRB”) announced the creation of a Primary Dealer Credit Facility (“PDCF”) to provide a liquidity backstop to primary dealers of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (“FRBNY”), which include the nation’s largest broker-dealers. The PDCF will provide short-term loans to primary ...
March 17, 2020, Covington Alert
Today, on March 17, 2020, the Federal Reserve provided a backstop of commercial paper ("CP") in the form of a Commercial Paper Funding Facility (“CPFF”) that establishes a special purpose vehicle (“SPV”) to acquire eligible CP directly from eligible issuers. The CPFF will provide liquidity to CP issuers that may otherwise face issues rolling over their CP in ...
Federal Reserve Takes Extraordinary Actions Supporting Financial Markets to Mitigate COVID-19 Impact
March 16, 2020, Covington Alert
Yesterday, on Sunday, March 15, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on U.S. and global economic activity, the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (“FOMC”) cut the target range of the federal funds rate to 0 to 1/4 percent until such time as the FOMC is “confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve ...
February 4, 2020, Covington Alert
On January 30, 2020, five federal financial regulators jointly issued a proposed rule that would modify existing regulations implementing the Volcker Rule’s general prohibition on banking entities investing in, sponsoring, or having certain relationships with hedge funds or private equity funds (collectively, “covered funds”). The proposal, which follows a 2019 ...
January 31, 2020, Covington Alert
On January 30, 2020, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) unanimously approved a final rule that establishes a comprehensive framework for determining whether a company (“investor”) controls another company (“investee”) for purposes of the Bank Holding Company Act (“BHCA”) and Home Owners’ Loan Act (“HOLA”), and clarifies certain ...
October 18, 2019, Covington Alert
On October 10, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) released two final rules to tailor and modify the applicability of enhanced prudential standards for bank holding companies (“BHCs”), savings and loan holding companies that are not substantially engaged in insurance underwriting or commercial activities (“Covered SLHCs”), ...
September 16, 2019, Cov Financial Services
On September 5, 2019, the Treasury Department (“Treasury”) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) released complementary proposals that, if implemented, would result in extensive changes to federal regulation of housing finance. The plans respond to a Presidential Memorandum of March 27, 2019, directing Treasury and HUD to develop housing ...
August 27, 2019, Covington Alert
On August 20, 2019, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) approved a final rule (the “final rule”)1 that will significantly revise existing regulations implementing the Volcker Rule – a statutory provision that generally prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading or taking an ownership interest in, ...
May 8, 2019, Covington Alert
May 3, 2019, Covington Alert
On April 29, 2019, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) seeking comment on expansion of the term “fiduciary capacity” in part 9 and part 150 of the OCC’s regulations to include certain trust-related roles authorized under state law, potentially including roles that do not involve investment ...
May 2019, The Banking Law Journal
April 18, 2019, Covington Alert
On April 8, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the “Board”) approved a notice of proposed rulemaking (the “Resolution Plan Proposal” or the “Proposal”), issued jointly with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC,” and together with the Board, the “Agencies”), that would revise the Agencies’ jointly issued resolution ...
April 17, 2019, Covington Alert
On April 8, 2019, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (“Board”) released two proposals to tailor and modify the applicability of enhanced prudential standards for foreign banking organizations (“FBOs”) and their U.S. intermediate holding companies (“IHCs”).
March 29, 2019, Cov Financial Services
On March 27, 2019, the White House released a memorandum on federal housing finance that instructed the Treasury Secretary to develop (i) a “Treasury Housing Reform Plan” that addresses the roles of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – and (ii) a “HUD Reform Plan” for certain programs of the Department...… Continue Reading
December 20, 2018, Covington Alert
On December 18, 2018, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) seeking comment on the regulatory approach to brokered deposits and the interest rate caps applicable to banks that are less than well capitalized. The FDIC for some time has been exploring the extent to which the current regulatory ...
September 24, 2018, Cov Financial Services
On September 18, 2018, the federal banking agencies issued a release with a proposed rule to implement the changes made to the capital treatment of certain high-volatility commercial real estate (“HVCRE”) loans by section 214 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Reform, and Consumer Protection Act (“EGRRCPA”). The deadline for comments on the proposal is 60...… ...
September 12, 2018, Cov Financial Services
On September 11, 2018, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (the “Bureau”, and, collectively, the “Agencies”) issued a statement “clarifying the role of supervisory ...
August 8, 2018
WASHINGTON—Covington advised Wilmington, Delaware-based WSFS Financial Corporation in its acquisition of Philadelphia-based Beneficial Bancorp, Inc., in a transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. This is the second bank M&A deal in two weeks where Covington is representing the acquiring institution. Covington is also representing Dallas-based Veritex ...
Federal Reserve and OCC Propose Revisions to Capital Framework for Large Banking Organizations
April 20, 2018, Covington Alert
On April 10, 2018, the Federal Reserve issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement a stress capital buffer ("SCB") into its capital requirements; revise its capital planning rule for bank holding companies with $50 billion or more in total consolidated assets and U.S. intermediate holding companies of foreign banking organizations established pursuant to ...
October 2017, The Banking Law Journal
August 30, 2017
NEW YORK—Covington advised Howard Bancorp, Inc., the bank holding company for Howard Bank, in its acquisition of First Mariner Bank, a community bank headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. The transaction value is approximately $163.4 million. The Covington team consisted of Michael Reed, Rusty Conner, Chris DeCresce, Matt Wood, and Nora Diamond-Jones(corporate); ...
July 14, 2017, Cov Financial Services
On July 10, 2017, the FDIC published for comment a handbook on deposit insurance applications, Deposit Insurance Applications: Procedures Manual. The manual covers each step in the application process: pre-filing activities, application receipt, review and acceptance, application processing, pre-opening activities and post-opening considerations. The FDIC has ...
June 21, 2017, Cov Financial Services
On June 12, 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released the first of a series of reports recommending regulatory reforms to the financial system consistent with President Trump’s Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System. Treasury’s first report focuses on the regulatory framework governing the depository system. Notably, a ...
April 24, 2017, Covington Alert
On April 19, 2017, the House Financial Services Committee (the “Committee”) released a new “discussion draft” of the Financial CHOICE Act, its comprehensive regulatory reform bill (“CHOICE Act 2.0”). The Committee released the first version of the bill (“CHOICE Act 1.0”) in June 2016.
March 27, 2017, Cov Financial Services
On March 24, 2017, the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “Agencies”) jointly announced that they had completed their evaluation of the resolution plans submitted by 16 domestic banks, primarily regional banks, in December 2015, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The Agencies did not determine that any of the 16...… ...
March 15, 2017, Cov Financial Services
As has been widely reported, FDIC Vice Chairman Thomas Hoenig put forward in remarks to the Institute of International Bankers on Monday, March 13, a “Market-Based Proposal for Regulatory Relief and Accountability” (the “Hoenig Proposal” or the “Proposal”). If adopted, the Hoenig Proposal would substantially change the regulation of large and complex banking ...
March 8, 2017, Cov Financial Services
In separate remarks at the Lendit USA 2017 conference on March 6, 2017, Thomas Curry, the Comptroller of the Currency, and Richard Cordray, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), discussed their respective agencies’ approaches to fintech. Although neither agency head made any groundbreaking announcement, their remarks provide an ...
February 3, 2017, Covington Alert
Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump promised to curtail financial regulations, particularly those promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act. President Trump argued frequently that the regulations issued under the act have proven overly burdensome and, among other things, limited job growth. This afternoon, the President took his first formal step in ...
February-March 2010, Bank Accounting & Finance
- The Best Lawyers in America, Banking and Finance Law, Financial Services Regulation Law (2010-2017)
- Chambers USA, Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Compliance) (2013-2016)