JOHN K. VAN DE WEERT is a partner in the firm’s Banking and Financial Services Practice Group in the Washington, D.C. office. His practice focuses on advising financial services clients on a wide range of issues, in regulatory, litigation, transactional, and counseling contexts.
The core of Mr. Van De Weert’s practice is consumer and retail banking. He has experience advising credit card companies, payment card networks, mortgage lenders and servicers, retail banks, auto lenders, brokerage firms, and others, including both depository and non-depository financial institutions. He has advised clients on compliance and litigation issues under the Truth-in-Lending Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, National Bank Act, Home Owners’ Loan Act, Federal Deposit Insurance Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, as well as a wide variety of state regulatory and deceptive trade practice statutes.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a substantial focus of Mr. Van De Weert’s current practice. That focus began with the legislative process leading up to the formation of the Bureau as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. He now advises clients who are subject to the expansive jurisdiction of the Bureau, whether through rulemaking, supervision, or enforcement.
Representative Engagements:
- Advised bank client on structuring consumer lending programs involving extensive use of third-party servicers and the sale of credit receivables after origination.
- Advised credit card issuer on compliance issues under the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 (the “CARD Act”), including new regulatory requirement to review interest rate increases on a regular basis for potential reductions.
- Led team of attorneys that prepared a comprehensive inventory of legal and regulatory requirements for a bank client.
- Represented bank client that was developing its own credit card program from scratch, including compliance with the detailed disclosure obligations and legal limitations applicable to that business.
Mr. Van De Weert graduated from Princeton University in 1995, receiving his A.B. in Classics with highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. with high honors, Order of the Coif, from The University of Chicago Law School in 1998. He was a member of The University of Chicago Law Review. He has practiced law at Sidley since graduating from law school, first in the Chicago office and then in Washington, D.C.