Lisa M. Lanham

Partner

Philadelphia

Tel 215.864.8390
Fax 215.864.8999

Lisa Lanham co-leads the firm's Fintech and Payments Solutions Team. Her practice focuses on financial services matters related to the state licenses and federal approvals necessary to conduct business for a variety of asset classes and market participants. Her clients include residential and commercial mortgage brokers, lenders, servicers, and loan fulfilment providers; student, consumer, and solar loan lenders and servicers; entities offering retail installment contracts for the purchase of consumer goods; marketplace lenders; and investors who engage in secondary market activities related to these business lines. She also works with early-stage Fintech companies in all of these business lines to help develop products mindful of state licensing and regulatory compliance requirements and obtain and maintain any required state licenses and approvals necessary to engage in business.

Lisa has robust experience and positive working relationships with key regulators, including the New York State Department of Financial Services, and leverages them to usher her clients through the process of obtaining and maintaining any required licenses and approvals, completing audits and examinations, explaining difficult disclosure issues, and reporting changes of ownership, executive management, and qualifying individuals.

Services

Experience

Representative Matters

Provided regulatory counsel to an international crypto exchange seeking to enter into the US market, which included a large state licensing project to set up a US subsidiary and US-compliance program prior to the client engaging in business
Representing and providing counsel on structured finance, securitization, and other secondary market transactions on the applicability of related transaction parties’ licenses
Representing and providing counsel to parties on licensing concerns related to merger and acquisition transactions
Coordinating with regulatory agencies, including the New York State Department of Financial Services, to gain time-sensitive approvals necessary to complete large-scale multistate transactions

Providing technical review and support for mortgage call report, money services businesses call report, and state-specific report filing requirements
Coordinating with key control persons to assist with the reporting of material licensing changes
Responding to client inquiries regarding state, District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Island consumer finance laws and applicable federal regulations. Assisting clients with registration and compliance issues related to government services agencies (e.g., HUD/FHA, Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, VA, USDA)
Representing clients in both adversarial and non-adversarial proceedings before state and federal regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Analyzing proposed business models within the context of regulatory compliance matters and licensing requirements associated with the buildout and daily operations of national financial services operations, including those that wish to utilize financial technology projects, including blockchain and distributed ledger technology, digital asset trading platforms, sponsors of tokenized platforms, and operators of emerging payments systems
Preparing multistate regulatory surveys of regulatory compliance issues for both financial service providers and consumer service providers
Assisting with the development of policies, procedures, and strategic initiatives to proactively address regulatory compliance deficiencies
Performing examination preparedness reviews of policies and procedures scrutinized in routine and special examinations by state regulators and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Reviewing examination requests, documents, and loan files gathered for response and acting as an intermediary during the examination process between the regulatory agent and the client. Negotiating findings with examiners before the examination report is finalized, as well as identifying mutually agreeable remediation actions in lieu of issuance of a formal action.
Assisting companies with international licensing issues in a changing regulatory environment

Professional Highlights

Pro Bono Experience

University of Miami School of Law, LawWithoutWalls, guest lecturer and team leader
KikOff Lending, LLC – Preferred Outside Licensing and Regulatory Counsel
The Center for NYC Neighborhoods and Sustainable Neighborhoods, LLC – Preferred Outside Licensing and Regulatory Counsel

Recognition & Accomplishments

The Best Lawyers in America Ones to Watch, Corporate Governance and Compliance Law, 2021

Board Memberships & Community Service

Board Member, Aspire to Autonomy, Inc.

Publications

Lisa regularly contributes to the firm's Consumer Finance Monitor blog and Money Laundering Watch blog.

Related Insights

Credentials

Education

University of Miami (J.D., cum laude, 2012)

New York University (A.A.S., B.A. 2008)

Admissions

New York

Pennsylvania