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Arthur S. Long
Partner
Mr. Long is a member of Davis Polk’s Financial Institutions Group. He has a reputation as a leading bank regulatory lawyer in the United States, having represented domestic and foreign banking organizations in New York since the late 1990s. He advises on the regulatory implications of mergers and acquisitions transactions; private equity and fund investments; the offering of new financial products, including derivatives; compliance and enforcement issues; bank insolvency issues; and, in the case of foreign banks, establishing U.S. branch and other offices.

He has provided bank regulatory advice to a large number of significant foreign bank clients, including Banco Santander, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland; U.S. domestic banks, including J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and State Street; and private equity firms that focus on investing in banks, including Corsair and Carlyle.

Mr. Long has recently taken a leading role in advising foreign and domestic financial institutions on Dodd-Frank implementation matters and has continued an active transactional practice, including advising on Sovereign Bank’s conversion from a federal thrift to a national bank; Chuo Mitsui Trust Holding’s $15.8 billion management integration with Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co., Ltd.; and Sandler O’Neill’s role in the $525 million recapitalization of First BanCorp, a Puerto Rico-based bank holding company.
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Related Practices
Bar Admissions
  • State of New York
Education
  • A.B., Harvard College, 1989
    • magna cum laude
  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 1993
    • magna cum laude
    • Supreme Court Editor, Harvard Law Review
Languages
  • French

Work Highlights
REGULATORY REFORM

Mr. Long has taken a leading role in advising foreign and domestic financial institutions on Dodd-Frank implementation matters, including:

  • Assistance to a number of leading domestic and foreign banks regarding Dodd-Frank Act regulatory implementation, including the formulation of substantive input to regulators
  • Advice to banking organizations and asset managers with respect to the Volcker Rule
FINANCIAL REGULATORY

Recent financial regulatory matters include advising:

  • Morgan Stanley on the bank regulatory and compliance issues stemming from its conversion into a bank holding company in September 2008
  • Banco Santander on the conversion of its U.S. subsidiary Sovereign Bank from a federal thrift to a national bank and related Federal Reserve applications
  • Private equity funds on noncontrolling investments in banks
  • Foreign banks on conducting equity derivative activities in their U.S. branches
  • U.S. domestic and foreign banks on the Federal Reserve’s merchant banking rule, 23A/23B of the Federal Reserve Act, financial holding company status, debanking and rebanking, anti-money laundering; anti-tying, and issues relating to the industrial bank exemption from the Bank Holding Company Act
FINANCIAL CRISIS ADVICE
  • The Federal Reserve Bank of New York with respect to its series of investments in American International Group, Inc.
  • Her Majesty’s Treasury in connection with its plan to provide support to the U.K. banking system, including obtaining relief from the Bank Holding Company Act for the U.K.-government controlled company that is the controlling shareholder of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc and Lloyds Banking Group plc
  • Citigroup Inc. on its proposed rescue of Wachovia Corporation in the first contemplated FDIC-assisted “open bank” transaction in nearly 20 years
M&A ASSIGNMENTS
  • Banco Santander’s original investment in, and ultimate acquisition of, Sovereign Bancorp
  • The acquisition by Citizens Financial Group, a subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, of Charter One Financial
  • Citigroup’s acquisition of Grupo Financiero Banamex-Accival
  • Banco Santander’s merger with Banco Central Hispanoamerica
  • Banco Bilbao Vizcaya’s merger with Argentaria
Recognition
  • Listed in guides to the world’s leading business lawyers, including IFLR1000: Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms
Professional History
  • Partner, 2007-present
  • Counsel, 2004-2007
  • Associate, 1994-1997; 1998-2004
  • Law Clerk, Hon. Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court 1997-1998
  • Law Clerk, Hon. J. Michael Luttig, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit 1993-1994