James Kim

James Kim co-leads Ballard Spahr’s Fintech and Payments Team. He advises Fintechs, banks, investors, and other clients regarding federal and state consumer financial laws and regulations, including Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act (UDAAP), TILA, RESPA, EFTA, and the FCRA. He helps clients navigate examinations and investigations with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and various state agencies.

James also assists clients with product development, regulatory due diligence, and matters involving cutting-edge issues, such as financial technology, data aggregation, credit and prepaid cards, and marketplace lending.

James served as a senior enforcement attorney with the CFPB where he coordinated with the FTC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, FDIC, Federal Communications Commission, and state attorneys general. He was lead counsel in the CFPB’s first enforcement actions involving mobile payments and a member of an interdepartmental credit card/prepaid card/emerging payments issue team.

Recent Representative Matters

• Assisting banks and nonbanks prepare for and navigate examinations with federal and state regulators
• Defending banks and nonbanks in enforcement actions by the CFPB, FDIC, Federal Reserve Board, New York Attorney General’s Office, New York Department of Financial Services, California Department of Business Oversight, and other state agencies
• Conducting regulatory due diligence for strategic and financial investors in equity, debt, and portfolio conversion transactions involving Fintech or consumer finance-related companies and assets
• Helping Fintechs launch products, enter into partnerships with banks and other counterparties, and respond to inquiries from regulators
• Advising companies regarding compliance with consumer financial and consumer protections laws and regulations

Professional Activities

Morgenthau Alumni Group

New York City Bar Association

Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York

Recognition & Accomplishments

Chambers FinTech Legal USA, Payments & Lending, 2021

The Legal 500 US, Finance - Financial Services: Regulatory, 2016, Fintech, 2020

Recent Publications

Co-author, "Installment Payments: How Millennials Are Shopping," The National Law Review, March 28, 2019

Co-author, "D.C. Circuit Holds CFPB Structure Unconstitutional, Interpretation of RESPA Not Entitled to Deference," Ballard Spahr alert, October 12, 2016

Co-author, "CFPB Finalizes Sweeping Expansion of Prepaid Account Regulations," Ballard Spahr alert, October 6, 2016

Co-author, "A Primer on Prudential Regulation for Virtual Currency Businesses," FinTech Law Report, September/October 2015

Co-author, "Fast Payments Industry Must Adapt To Evolving CFPB Policy," Law360, July 21, 2015

Co-author, "The Trials And Tribulations Of Disparate Impact Theory," Law360, June 19, 2015

Recent Speaking Engagements

"Legal, Tax, and Regulatory Issues," Financial Innovation and Payments Summit 2019, Newport, RI, July 11, 2019

"Consumer Financial Protection Enforcement Under Trump," American Bar Association's Antitrust Law 2019 Spring Meeting, Washington, D.C., March 28, 2019

"Consumer Financial Data Aggregation in the Prepaid Space: Identifying Key Concerns and the Potential for Regulatory Intervention," American Conference Institute Prepaid Card Compliance National Forum, Washington, D.C., January 30, 2019

"Fintech Regulatory Sandboxes," Utah Association of Financial Services & National Association of Industrial Bankers 2018 Annual Conference, Park City, Utah, August 16, 2018

Moderator, "Pain or Opportunity? Legal, Tax, and Regulatory Issues in Financial Services," Financial Innovation and Payments Summit 2018, Newport, RI, July 19, 2018

"Getting In Front of the Legal + Compliance Challenges of RegTech," Bank Director: The Reality of RegTech, New York, April 18, 2018

"What the Arrival of the CFPB Final Rule Means for Consumer Access & the Development of New Products," Network Branded Prepaid Card Association: Power of Prepaid, Washington, D.C., April 10, 2018

"The Regulators Speak on Enforcement Activities, Agency Priorities, and Investigations,"American Conference Institute's 18th National Forum, January 2018

"Hear From the Regulators at the CFPB, the FTC, and the OCC," COMPLY2017: The RegTech and Compliance Conference, New York, June 8, 2017

Cornell Law School (J.D. 1999)

Brown University (B.A. 1994)

New York

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Supreme Court

Not admitted to practice in Washington, D.C.