BuckleySandler LLP has announced that Kathleen “Kitty” Ryan, former Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), has joined the firm as counsel in its Washington, D.C. office. Ryan will play an integral role in the firm’s CFPB practice where she will advise clients on compliance with new and existing consumer protection regulations and on responding to examinations, investigations, and enforcement actions, as well as HMDA-related matters.
She is the second senior CFPB official to join BuckleySandler, reuniting with her former colleague Benjamin Olson who has been at the firm since 2013.
A recognized leader in the field of consumer financial protection regulation, Ryan brings valuable insights and experience with regulatory matters based on her years at the CFPB, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB), and as in-house counsel for a major financial institution.
“A tremendous source of our firm’s strength has been a deep bench of lawyers with a rich expertise in areas that affect our clients,” said BuckleySandler Chairman and Executive Partner Andrew L. Sandler. “Kitty’s extensive experience as a regulator, combined with her work as in-house counsel—particularly in the areas of rulemaking and compliance—makes her an invaluable asset to the firm’s clients because she can provide guidance based on years of first-hand knowledge of the regulatory scrutiny and compliance challenges they face.”
While at the CFPB, Ryan’s area of responsibility included two of the Bureau’s largest mortgage rules: the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) or Know Before You Owe rule; and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) amendments. She also helped build out the Bureau’s regulatory implementation efforts, an effort aimed at assisting the industry in understanding and complying with new regulations. Ryan also focused on the CFPB’s ongoing rulemaking regarding debt collection, and advised on the CFPB’s fair lending enforcement efforts and its Business Data Lending Rule.
Prior to joining the CFPB, Ryan was a senior regulatory counsel at JPMorganChase where she advised multiple lines of business—including mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and deposit products—regarding compliance with consumer financial protection statutes, fair lending, and the prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAPs).
Ryan previously served as the senior counsel for the Regulations Branch of the FRB's Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, where she was the lead attorney for mortgage-related issues, advised on fair lending matters, and participated in rulemakings under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, HMDA, the Truth in Lending Act, and the Community Reinvestment Act. Prior to joining the FRB, she served as an attorney in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice and in the Office of General Counsel at the Department of Education.
“After spending much of my career with the federal government, I am excited to return to the private sector by joining BuckleySandler,” Ryan said. “I wanted to join the leading CFPB and regulatory practice and I look forward to assisting the firm’s clients address their regulatory issues, and working proactively to minimize their exposure.”
