Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that R. Colgate Selden has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C., office as a partner in the Financial Institutions Litigation & Regulatory Compliance (“FILARC”) practice group. At Blank Rome, Colgate will advise clients on federal and state laws regulating consumer and mortgage lending. Colgate joins Blank Rome from Promontory MortgagePath LLC, a company founded by a former comptroller of the currency and provider of digital mortgage and fulfillment solutions, where he served as managing director and head of regulatory legal, compliance, and risk.
Earlier in his career, Colgate served as an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of the Treasury and was a member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Implementation Team, where he helped establish the CFPB as required under The Dodd-Frank Act. He then served as a senior counsel in the CFPB’s Office of Regulations for several years where he helped draft many key industry regulations, advised on policy matters, and led teams responding to inquiries from Congress, industry, and consumer groups. He subsequently joined Alston & Bird LLP where his national practice focused on federal and state consumer laws and regulations applicable to the banking and lending industries.
“Colgate is a strong addition to our national FILARC practice group, and I am thrilled to welcome him to our firm,” said Grant S. Palmer, Blank Rome’s Managing Partner and CEO. “His extensive in-house, government experience as well as his private practice background helps Colgate understand and anticipate the needs of clients, which is critical in this nuanced regulatory and litigation landscape that our consumer finance clients are currently navigating.”
At Blank Rome, Colgate will advise banks and non-depositories on the federal and state laws that regulate consumer and mortgage lending as well as ancillary service providers and vendors such as FinTechs, lead generators, document providers, due diligence firms, title companies, real estate brokers, and appraisers. He has experience handling banking and lender supervisory matters and compliance issues that arise under the Truth in Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts and Practices, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Housing Act, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Bank Holding Company Act, National Bank Act, Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act, Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, and National Flood Insurance Act, among other federal and state statutes and regulations. Colgate will also conduct due diligence, provide regulatory review on deals, and defend clients against enforcement actions and examination findings from various state and federal agencies and regulators.
“Colgate’s background at the CFPB and his unique familiarity with the agency’s rules will greatly benefit our clients active in this highly regulated space,” said Wayne Streibich, Chair of Blank Rome’s FILARC practice group. “In the current economic climate, the mortgage industry is ripe for consolidation, which will attract scrutiny from lawmakers and regulators alike. Colgate will draw upon his extensive government and private practice experience to navigate the evolving landscape as well as manage any risk and compliance issues that arise for clients.”
“I am excited to join Blank Rome and once again work with my former colleagues Andy Arculin, whom I worked with at the CFPB, and Scott Samlin, whom I previously worked with in private practice, to continue growing the firm’s consumer finance servicing offerings, in collaboration with Wayne and the strong national FILARC team that the firm has built,” added Selden. “I expect that we will see some of the CFPB’s new regulations challenged in court over the next several months, and Blank Rome’s strong bench of litigators and impressive FILARC practice are well positioned to handle these matters.”
Colgate received his J.D., with honors, from Vermont Law School, his LLM in securities and financial regulation from Georgetown University Law Center, and his B.S., with honors, from Ferrum College.
Source: www.blankrome.com
