John advises firm clients on mission-critical compliance issues and risk management as well as state and federal financial regulatory engagement, investigations, and enforcement.
John counsels financial institutions, broker-dealers, investment companies and advisers, and closely monitors CFPB regulatory developments and enforcement actions that impact clients. He counsels clients on a variety of issues including state foreign-language disclosure laws, fair lending, Electronic Fund Transfer Act (Regulation E), Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B), and unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP).
As a native Spanish speaker, he regularly advises financial institutions on regulatory and enforcement trends affecting Limited English Proficiency consumers in the United States, and supports many practice groups in matters involving clients with presence in Latin America. John’s experience in this space includes conducting anti-money laundering, antitrust and corruption audits for clients throughout Latin America.
John regularly assists financial institution clients on how to handle subpoenas, complex creditor attachments, and grand jury investigations while complying with a variety of complex state and federal laws and regulations. He also has experience in all phases of complex commercial litigation, including drafting and arguing dispositive motions, taking and defending depositions, managing discovery, trial preparation, and appeals.
Experience
- Led day-to-day operations of Spanish legal review for a global financial services firm and banking institution.
- Conducted antitrust, AML, and anti-corruption audits of multinational company’s locations throughout Latin America.
- Defended a major financial institution in a state court action filed by a competing creditor asserting priority under the Uniform Commercial Code over collateral brokerage accounts.
- Represented broker-dealer and other financial institutions in complex probate and non-probate disputes over ownership of brokerage and bank accounts in multiple states.
- Represented immigrant plaintiff seeking custody of child and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status for such child.
- Representing a major power company in the pursuit of hundreds of millions of dollars for losses sustained in 2017 during Hurricane Maria under property / business interruption policies issued by European-, London-, and U.S.-based insurers.
- Duke University School of LawLLMBusiness Law Certificate2019
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Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of LawJD
magna cum laude, Editor, CLAVE Law Review
2014 -
University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras CampusBAPsychology
magna cum laude
2011
Selected for inclusion into the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, 2020
- Author, CFPB: For-Profit School Misrepresented ISAs, Made False Claims About Grads’ Employment Rates, McGuireWoods Legal Alert, April 22, 2024
- Author, CFPB Updates Process to Designate Nonbanks for Supervision, Consumer FinSights, April 17, 2024
- Author, New Nevada Law Protects Limited-English Proficiency Consumers by Requiring Translation of Certain Financial Legal Documents, Consumer FinSights, October 7, 2021