Current Employment Position(s)

Member, since 2009

Year Joined Organization: 2006

Lawyer Overview

Mr. Bley is the chair of the Financial Institutions Group. His practice involves the following areas:

Regulatory Intervention. Represent financial institutions (banks and non-banks) before federal and state financial institutions regulators concerning pending or existing regulatory enforcement actions, these include either ”safety and soundness" or "consumer compliance" actions. Services include (a) drafting responses to reports of examination, (b) negotiating the elements of cease and desist orders, (c) advising boards concerning implementation and compliance strategies with such orders, (d) negotiating civil money penalty and license revocation orders, (e) devising management work plans and other strategies designed to satisfy and lift regulatory orders.

Regulatory Compliance and Enforcement Prevention. Practice is similar to "Regulatory Intervention" except it is preventative in nature. Work with management and boards to identify and correct safety and soundness or compliance issues before such issues become subject to enforcement actions. Such issues include but are not limited to compliance strategies with numerous pronouncements on (i) safety and soundness matters such as lending limits rules, credit quality policies, loan portfolio risk management pronouncements and anti-money laundering laws and rules and (ii) consumer compliance matters, primarily in the residential and consumer lending area, including laws dealing with truth-in-lending, truth-in-savings, RESPA, safekeeping of customer information, sharing of customer information, and applicable state consumer protection laws and licensing regimes such as the Washington Mortgage Broker Practices Act and the Consumer Loan Act.

Regulatory Relations. Assist management with regulatory approvals for new banks, bank holding companies, trust administration, non-depository operating subsidiaries, sub-chapter S conversions and other such activities. Assist financial institutions and their trade associations influence the administrative rulemaking process.

Legislative Relations. Assist clients and their trade associations draft bills and devise advocacy strategies concerning proposed legislation before state and federal legislative bodies.

Expert Witness Testimony. Provide consulting and testimony services as an expert witness in the areas of predatory lending, corporate governance, audit committee best practices and internal audit, securities fraud, state and federal regulatory safety and soundness enforcement processes and consumer compliance enforcement processes.

Strategic Planning. Facilitate board and/or management strategic planning initiatives for bank or commercial enterprises. Such processes are tailored to the needs and desires of the client but can include (a) devising, implementing, and analyzing board questionnaires (b) interviewing board members and members of the CEO's direct reports to determine board and management's view of the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats confronting the organization, (c) facilitating board and/or management strategic planning sessions, tailored to the scope and needs of the client, (d) working with management and the board to implement "Strategic Action Plans" to facilitate implementation of the strategic strategies identified during the strategic planning sessions.

Corporate Governance. Advise on sound governance procedures especially in the areas of best audit committee practices and codes of ethics, focusing primarily on small (less than one billion dollars) non-public banks.

Mergers and Acquisitions. Assisting in the negotiation of mergers and branch acquisitions, including drafting and negotiating agreements and securing applicable regulatory approvals.

Areas of Practice

• Financial Institutions
• Business
• Credit Crisis

West Practice Categories

Banking & Finance Law, Business & Commercial Law

Bar Admissions

• Washington, 1985

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association (Business Law) (Member)
• Washington Bar Association (Business Law) (Member)
• RiverBank Spokane, Washington (Director and Audit Committee Chair)

Classes and Seminars

• Moderator, Mastering Disaster - Dealing with Problem Credits, Seattle, WA - March 2008
• Presenter, Directors & Red Flags in Board Reports, Western Independent Bankers - Webinar - April 2008
• Presenter, Board Governance Best Practices, Northwest Bank Directors College, Portland, OR - February 2008
• Speaker, Director Compensation & Executive Compensation in Today's Environment, WIB/AABD 2007 Annual Bank Directors Conference - November 2007
• Speaker, Corporate Structures, Bank Directors Seminar - September 2007
• Speaker, Directors and Regulatory Hot Spots, The Western Independent Bankers Directors Series 2007 - June 2007
• Speaker, The Director's Role in Compliance, The Utah Bankers Association Current Issues in Banking for Bank Directors - April 2007
• Speaker, BSA Overview on Enterprise Risk Assessment, Northwest Summit for Financial Professionals - March 2007
• Speaker, Where the $OX Might Not Fit, Small Bank Board Governance and Audit Committee Best Practices - Northwest Bank Directors College - February 2007
• Speaker, Challenges in the Board Room: Fiduciary Duty, Ethics and Legality, WBA CEO/Bank Directors Conference, Seattle, WA - December 2006
• Speaker, Today's Regulatory Environment, Today's Regulatory Environment: Basic Real Estate Finance, Seattle, WA - November 2006
• Speaker, Managing Payment Shock: Review and Commentary on the Interagency Guidance on Nontraditional Mortgage Products Risks, OBA Compliance Committee, Seattle, WA - November 2006
• Speaker, West Coast Law Update -- State Consumer Lending Enforcement Actions, WIB/CBA 28th Annual Regulatory Compliance Conference, Henderson, NV - October 2006
• Speaker, The Board's Role in Compliance, CSBS Bank Directors Seminar, Coeur d'Alene, ID - September 2006
• Speaker, Enterprise Risk Assessment, FDIC Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-money Laundering Seminar, Seattle, WA - September 2006
• Moderator, Bank Regulatory Panel, WICBA Annual Membership Convention, Blaine, WA - September 2006
• Presenter, Washington Bankers Association: Key Regulatory Issues Affecting Directors, Regulatory Issues Impacting Directors, Lake Chelan, WA - September 2006
• Presenter, Corporate Governance for Credit Unions, NASCUS 40th Annual Conference & Symposium - August 2005
• Presenter, Agent Assisted Lending & FDIC Audits Presentation and Dialogue, 2005 CFSA Annual Meeting - March 2005
• Presenter, What Isn't Predatory Lending, 2004 CFSA Annual Meeting - February 2005
• Presenter, Agent Assisted Lending & FDIC Audits Presentations and Dialogue, 2004 CFSA Annual Meeting - February 2004
• Presenter, Current Privacy Issues, 2003 AFSA/NACCA Administrators/Industry Day - September, 2003
• Presenter, Agency Audits: What Are The Traps?, Payday Lending Regulatory Summit - June, 2003
• Presenter, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Western Independent Bankers 2003 Annual Cashiers/CFOs Conference Workshops on Directors & the Audit Committee - June 2003
• Presenter, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Western Independent Bankers 46th Annual Conference - March 2003
• Presenter, Agency Audits: What are the Traps?, 2003 CFSA Annual Meeting - February 2003
• Presenter, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection - February 2003
• Presenter, Bank Directors Duties from a Legal Perspective, IntegraAdvisors - August 2002
• Presenter, Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection, The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, IntegraAdvisors - August 2002

Past Employment Positions

• Foster Pepper PLLC, Of Counsel, 2006 - 2008
• IntegraAdvisors, LLC, CEO, 2002 - 2006
• Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Director, 1993 - 2002
• Washington State Division of Banking, Supervisor of Banking, 1991 - 1993
• Washington State Division of Banking, Deputy Supervisor of Banking, 1988 - 1991
• Graham & Dunn PC, Attorney, 1985 - 1988

Education

• Willamette University College of Law, Salem, Oregon, 1985
  J.D.
• Willamette University, 1985
  M.B.A.
• Pacific Lutheran University, 1980
  B.A.

Published Works

• Empowering Consumers is Consumer Protection, Testimony before Washington State Senate Financial Institutions, Housing & Consumer Protection Committee, 2005
• Empowering the State System - State Regulators Support Initiatives to Reduce Regulatory Burden, The IntegraAdvisor, August 2004
• Supporting State Banking Systems: A Dedicated Approach to Economic Vitality, The IntegraAdvisor, February 2003
• Are You Ready for the Regulators? Economic Uncertainty Demands Proactive Management of Credit Risk, IntegraAdvisor, July 2002

Address

1111 Third Avenue
Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101-3299

Phones

(206) 447-8915

Faxes

(206) 749-2115

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.foster.com