Womble Bond Dickinson has strengthened the firm’s FinTech and financial regulatory and compliance capabilities with the addition of attorney Alexandra (Alex) Villarreal O’Rourke. She will advise firm clients on mission-critical compliance questions and risk management as well as state and federal financial regulatory engagement, investigations, and enforcement. She also has significant experience on Fintech and Artificial Intelligence regulatory matters and helps clients navigate the evolving legal terrains on those topics. Villarreal O’Rourke will serve as Team Leader for the firm’s Financial Regulatory Team and Co-Leader of the firm’s FinTechTeam.

Villarreal O’Rourke has particular experience in helping companies in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) compliance and dispute resolution. Her experience also spans matters under the jurisdiction of the OCC, the FTC, FINRA, the SEC and numerous state AGs and banking regulators. Before launching her private practice, she served as Senior Counsel with the CFPB’s Office of Law and Policy. There, she advised the Bureau on enforcement and supervision, including leading rulemaking proceedings and resolving civil rights-related fair lending issues.

In addition, Villarreal O’Rourke advised the CFPB on FinTech and alternative credit data issues. She currently serves on the FinXTech Advisory Board, and is a frequent speaker and author on FinTech and CFPB-related topics.Villarreal O’Rourke also previously served as an attorney in the US State Department’s Office of the Legal Advisor, handling national security and immigration-related cases.

“Groundbreaking technology is disrupting the financial industry, and financial institutions are struggling to keep up. Alex brings regulatory experience, technical knowledge and a practical business sense to our FinTech clients.” said Ted Claypoole, Co-Leader of the firm’s FinTech Team.

Merrick Benn, head of Womble Bond Dickinson's Capital Markets Practice Group noted, “FinTech knowledge and expertise is one of the fastest growing and complex needs of financial institutions. We are constantly working hard to stay ahead of those demands, and with the addition of Alex, our clients now have access to a seasoned attorney with unparalleled experience and a reputation that is second to none in the FinTech space. Alex will better enable our clients to steer a clear course in this constantly shifting and highly regulated area of business.”

Villarreal O’Rourkeis the 2018 recipient of the Charlotte Business Journal’s Women in Business Achievement Award. She comes to Womble Bond Dickinson from McGuire Woods’ Charlotte office.

About Womble Bond Dickinson

Womble Bond Dickinson is a transatlantic law firm with more than 1,000 lawyers based in 26 UK and US office locations. The firm provides core legal services including: Commercial, Corporate, Employment, Pensions, Dispute Resolution, Litigation, Finance, Banking, Restructuring, Insolvency, IP, Technology and Data, Private Wealth, Projects, Construction and Infrastructure, Real Estate and Regulatory Law.

Womble Bond Dickinson has a particular focus on eleven key sectors: Energy & Natural Resources, Financial Institutions, Healthcare, Insurance, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Retail & Consumer, Transport & Infrastructure, Pharmaceuticals Biotechnology & Life Sciences, Communications & Technology and Private Wealth.

The firm’s UK offices are in Aberdeen, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Newcastle, Plymouth and Southampton. The US offices are in Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Los Angeles, Orange County and Palo Alto, Calif.; Wilmington, Del; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Charleston, Columbia and Greenville, S.C.; Charlottesville and Tysons, Va.; and Washington, D.C.

Through the firm’s association with Lex Mundi, the world’s largest association of independent law firms, Womble Bond Dickinson also can offer clients access to quality-tested local counsel in more than 120 countries.