Overview
Molly Swartz is a partner in the Global Fintech & Payments practice at Paul Hastings. She is based in the firm's San Francisco office. Ms. Swartz represents and advises bank and non-bank financial institutions, financial technology companies, commercial and consumer lenders, and other types of financiers regarding a broad spectrum of product, regulatory and transactional matters. She has extensive experience with consumer protection laws, as well as the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, state money transmission and licensed lending laws, gift card laws, payment network rules such as the Nacha, Visa and Mastercard Rules, and other state and federal statutes related to money movement.
Ms. Swartz advises clients regarding a host of product and regulatory issues. From ideation and strategy through launch and beyond, Ms. Swartz assists in all aspects of product development. She regularly negotiates commercial agreements in the financial services space, including bank-Fintech partnership agreements and commercial agreements between Fintech companies.
Ms. Swartz also advises on financial services licensing and registration, assists clients in responding to regulatory inquiries, writes comments for proposed federal and state financial services rulemakings, and frequently performs regulatory due diligence in connection with a variety of transactions.
Recognitions
- Law360, Rising Star, Fintech (2023)
- The Legal 500 USA, Rising Star, Fintech (2022)
Engagement & Publications
- Client Alert: Finance Providers Need to Be Aware of New Commercial Finance Disclosure Laws (July 2023)
- Client Alert: There’s a New Sheriff in Town: CCFPL Empowers California’s Financial Services Regulator (Oct. 2020)
- Co-Author with Thomas P. Brown, Fair Lending and the Use of Alternative Underwriting, Law360 (June 9, 2020)
- Client Alert: California Deems Certain Deferred Payment Products Loans, Requiring a Lending License (Jan. 2020)
- Speaker, "To MSB or Not to MSB?" Paul Hastings ICO Teleconference Series (Dec. 14, 2017)
- Co-Author with Robert P. Silvers, Data Breach Preparedness and Response in a World of White Hat Hackers, The Privacy Advisor, IAPP (Nov. 28, 2017)
- Speaker, "Regulatory Developments in Prepaid," 2017 Prepaid Expo (August 22, 2017)
- Co-Author with Thomas P. Brown, Making America Great for FinTech, 20 FinTech L. Report 1 (March/April 2017)
- Co-Author with Thomas P. Brown, Competition Policy in Consumer Financial Services: The Disparate Regulation of Online Marketplace Lenders and Banks, 11 Competition Pol'y Int'l 1 (Mar. 2016)
- PH Privacy Blog: CFPB's First Foray into Data Security Makes $100,000 Splash (Mar. 2016)
- Client Alert: CFPB Releases its First Regulatory Proposals Under its UDAAP Authority - Proposing to Level the Playing Field for Payday Loans, Vehicle Title Loans, and Certain High-Cost Installment and Open-End Loans (Apr. 2015)