Sitraka concentrates his practice on representing public and private companies, private equity funds and private credit funds in a wide variety of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, including leveraged buyouts, strategic mergers, take-private deals, carveouts, reorganizations, joint ventures and other complex investment transactions. Sitraka also counsels clients with respect to corporate and governance matters.
Ben is admitted as a solicitor advocate with rights of audience in all civil proceedings before the English higher courts. In addition to his core experience in international arbitration and litigation in the energy, construction and commercial spheres, previously Ben has also acted for energy & infrastructure clients and advised on mergers & acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions for clients based in Europe and the US. Ben is currently deputy chair for the Association of International Energy Negotiators sub-group drafting a Green Hydrogen Sale and Purchase Agreement.
Her practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, and securities transactions. She also counsels clients on corporate governance matters.
In his municipal finance practice, John has served as bond counsel, special tax counsel and underwriter’s counsel for a variety of transactions, including particularly governmental, airport, and public power financings. John has represented issuers and borrowers before the Internal Revenue Service in connection with audits, private letter rulings, and requests pursuant to the voluntary closing agreement program (VCAP).
John has worked with issuers to establish post-issuance compliance programs tailored to their specific financings, and also has significant experience with tax-exempt commercial paper programs for both governmental and exempt facilities. John is a regular speaker at various conferences focused on public finance and tax, including conferences organized by the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the American Bar Association Tax Section, and the California Bond Buyer Conference. John is serving as Chair of the National Association of Bond Lawyers' "The Institute" conference in 2024.
Client-centered experiences are at the heart of Caroline’s practice. She has provided a wide variety of institutions, from fintech startups to multinational banks, with tailored, practical guidance that considers each company’s unique characteristics and strategic goals. Caroline draws on her prior experiences as an attorney at a federal prudential regulator and as the head of compliance at a consumer finance company to give clients a comprehensive picture of the legal risks and opportunities each new matter presents.
Her work on behalf of financial services providers has included:
Providing guidance regarding novel or complex regulatory questions, often in the context of developing new financial products and services
Performing compliance risk assessments of marketing, underwriting, pricing, origination, servicing and loss mitigation activities
Advising banks and supervised lenders with examinations by federal and state regulators, including responding to exam findings, CAMELS ratings, Matters Requiring Attention (MRA/MRIA) and enforcement referrals
Strategically responding to and defending enforcement actions by state and federal regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Federal Reserve Board and Department of Justice (DOJ), and, if necessary, negotiating favorable settlements
Developing strategies for bank partnership, state licensing and bank charter opportunities for consumer financial services providers
Conducting internal investigations of suspected misconduct or violations of an institution’s policies and/or regulatory requirements
In these and other representations, Caroline brings strong substantive knowledge of the key federal and state statutes and regulations governing the financial services industry. Her specific areas of focus include:
Fair lending and anti-discrimination laws, including the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
Prohibitions on unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAP and UDAAP)
Technical regulatory compliance under federal and state laws governing loan marketing, disclosures, settlement practices, servicing and collection practices, consumer reporting and electronic payments
Federal preemption, including under the National Bank Act
Compliance management best practices and regulatory expectations, including third-party vendor and merchant oversight
Treatment and disclosure of confidential supervisory information (CSI)
State lease-to-own laws and regulations
Prior to joining Orrick, Caroline was senior counsel at Buckley LLP. She also has served as an attorney-advisor in the litigation division of the OCC, where she represented the agency in civil litigation, bank receivership preparation, employment disputes and other administrative contexts. Caroline also gained valuable in-house experience as the head of compliance and assistant general counsel of a Richmond-based consumer finance company.
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