Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP announced today that Daniel Meade has joined the firm’s market-leading financial regulatory practice as a partner in Washington, DC. Cadwalader’s financial services team was recognized as GlobalCapital’s “U.S. Law Firm of the Year – Regulatory” and IFLR’s “Americas Financial Services Regulatory Team of the Year” in 2020.
Meade most recently served as Senior Vice President and Managing Counsel at Wells Fargo, where he led a team providing advice to Wells Fargo’s Regulatory Relations and Government Relations and Public Policy functions. Earlier in his time at Wells Fargo, he worked as part of the general bank regulatory team, providing advice regarding banking statutes, regulations and policies issued by bank regulatory agencies that pertain to U.S. corporate-level bank and bank holding company regulatory laws and associated regulations, such as permissible activities, capital and liquidity rules, bank anti-tying rules, transactions with affiliates, branching and other office establishment issues, federal preemption, and federal antitrust laws. Prior to joining Wells Fargo, Meade was a partner at Hogan Lovells, providing general bank regulatory advice. Meade also worked as Senior Counsel to the House Financial Services Committee, with responsibility for drafting substantial portions of the banking law provisions of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. Earlier in his career, Meade worked on the Legal Staff of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, with responsibility for a variety of bank supervisory matters, including prudential regulation and bank M&A.
“Dan is an outstanding financial regulatory lawyer, with a range of experience at a major financial institution, government and another leading law firm,” said Cadwalader managing partner Pat Quinn. “He brings a deep understanding of how bank regulation works on the inside and will be instrumental in our ability to advise our clients going forward.”
Added Scott Cammarn, co-chair of Cadwalader’s Financial Services Group: “Dan’s arriving at a key inflection point, as all signs suggest that the Biden administration will increase banking regulatory activity, with the anticipated tightening of standards, especially for the largest banks. Dan has worked for and advised big banks, and he will complement and expand our services to financial institutions.”
Meade has served as the Chair of the American Bankers Association’s Regulatory Strategy Group, as the Vice Chair of the In-House subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s Banking Law Committee, and on the executive council of the Federal Bar Association’s Bank Law Committee. In connection with his role at Wells Fargo, Meade met frequently with the bank regulatory attorneys for the major U.S. and non-U.S. banks in various committees of the banking industry’s primary trade groups, such as the Bank Policy Institute (the successor to the Financial Services Roundtable and the Clearing House Association), the American Bankers Association, and the Financial Services Forum.
Meade has substantial experience in sophisticated transactional bank regulatory issues, such as bank M&A, the Volcker Rule, bank powers, affiliate transactions, Basel III capital, tying, AML, sanctions and Bank Holding Company Act issues.
Cadwalader’s bank regulatory practice represents many U.S. and foreign institutions on issues of bank powers, mergers and acquisitions, charters and licenses, control determinations, supervisory issues, insolvency concerns, affiliate transaction issues, capital markets, and other regulatory matters.
“Cadwalader has a fantastic reputation in the financial services industry and especially in bank regulatory matters,” Meade said. “My broad experience will enable me to smoothly transition into Cadwalader’s existing team and to advise clients on all bank regulatory issues, including prudential, consumer, payments and fintech issues. I also bring deep expertise in all aspects of bank transactional work – a significant priority for banks in the current environment.”
Meade’s arrival follows a number of significant partner additions at Cadwalader, including: a market-leading litigation team from Boies Schiller, led by Nicholas Gravante and including Philip Iovieno, Karen Dyer and Lawrence Brandman in global litigation; M. Chadwick Stackhouse in fund finance; Mark Beardsworth, Kevin Roberts, Mark Grider, and Rachel Rodman in white collar defense and investigations; Doug Gansler to lead the State Attorneys General practice; Michael Newell in funds formation; and Matthew Duncan in capital markets.