Spencer Fane attorneys Kirstin D. Kanski and Yana Rusovski authored the article The Debanking Minefield, recently published by Show-Me Banker.
In the article, which was originally a firm blog post, the team discusses how the elimination of reputational risk from bank supervision is reshaping the regulatory landscape for fair access to financial services. They examine recent legislative, regulatory, and enforcement developments involving debanking, including DOJ investigations, BSA/AML reforms, and emerging state fair-access laws. They also outline steps banks should take to review policies, historical account decisions, and risk-management practices to ensure compliance with the new framework.
“The states of Florida, Tennessee and Idaho have each enacted fair-access statutes, and several additional states have proposed or have pending similar laws. For institutions operating nationally, this creates a compliance map that cannot be satisfied by a single federal policy, because state-specific notice and documentation requirements must be addressed on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis,” the team wrote.
Kirstin maintains a comprehensive banking and financial services practice in which she provides strategic legal advice to financial institutions on a variety of bank regulatory matters, including enterprise risk management, corporate governance, charters and activities, data privacy, consumer compliance, payment systems, digital assets, third-party risk, regulatory applications, mergers and acquisitions, exams, enforcement actions, and remediation. She has significant experience in the design and implementation of enterprise compliance, risk, data privacy, ethics, and investigation programs.
Yana’s practice focuses on the legal needs of clients in the real estate, finance, and government sectors, with particular emphasis on regulatory compliance, preventive counseling, and defending against enforcement actions. She helps clients identify and manage fair housing and fair lending risks, including those arising from AI and automated decision-making tools, while developing strategies to resolve disputes and protect business goals. With extensive experience handling HUD and government investigations, Yana provides practical guidance tailored to clients’ operational needs.
Read the team’s full article here.